The Eye of the Beholder
by Anime Insaniac
Summary: As I travel to soothe the pain of the loss of my family, my feet lead me and my students to Nami no Kuni, where I see corruption causing pain and poverty. Knowing my family wouldn't stand for this injustice, my students and I help with what I can. Redoing
1. Prologue: They drift with the current

**The Eye of the Beholder**

I'm redoing this fic, ironing out everything and ensuring that things follow the storyline a little more.

Prologue: They drift with the current

* * *

A man leads his students in the direction his feet led him. He was an exceptionally tall man, at the height of 6'5", with shoulder length, messy and spiky blonde hair, blue eyes and a facial structure that could have most females around him swooning if he wanted. His attire was mostly covered by a hooded cloak the color of desert sand. What one could see was that he was wearing a pair of loose pants that allowed for proper maneuverability if he fought.

All four students were female with the oldest being nine while the other three were only a year younger than her. All of them were wearing martial arts attire, just different colors to prevent confusion. The oldest was wearing a red attire with blue lining, she had maroon colored hair that went to her shoulders and dark green eyes. The next one wore a black set with white lining, she had mid-back length black hair, blue eyes and glasses. Another had dark brown hair and green eyes, she wore brown with green lining. The last one had messy blonde hair, light blue eyes and a tan furred cat on her shoulder, she wore sky blue with pink lining.

"Okay, you four," the man said as they approached the coast of the country they were in, "the boatman should be around this area."

The females groaned before replying, "Hai, sensei."

He approached the house closest to the docks and knocked on the door.

The man who opened the door looked to be in his mid-thirties. "Can I help you?" he asked politely.

"Would you mind telling us if there are any boats to Nami no Kuni?" the blonde man asked with a polite smile.

"Well, you're looking at the main person who provides transport for people," the boatman said.

The females perked up, almost relieved.

"But I threw out my back recently and it'll probably be another week before I can even bring myself, let alone five others," he said as he held his lower back.

The girls all groaned again.

The first man looked thoughtful and asked "Would you please turn around?"

The boatman looked a tad confused but shrugged and did as was requested.

The blonde man moved his hand down the boatman's spine and then picked the guy up and started twisting the man in many different ways, he then set the boatman down and kicked him in the rear.

"What was that for, I threw my back out and it hurts like crazy," the boatman shouted angrily.

"It does?" the blonde man said with his head tilted.

"Yes it..." he started but realized he wasn't feeling any pain at all. "Wow, how did you do that?"

"I'm a certified doctor, that was a simple bone setting procedure," blonde replied with a shrug. "You should be good for a few months, but try to take it easy for a bit. Now are you well enough to help with transport?"

"No problem," the boatman said to him as he went to get ready.

Within fifteen minutes he stepped outside to see the man wrapped in chains.

The man just stood up and spread his limbs out, breaking the chains.

The boatman just sweatdropped as the man dusted himself off, "Was there any point in that?"

The blonde just looked at him and said, "Those weren't normal chains, they work perfectly in what I use them for."

"I'll take your word for it," the boatman replied as he went to the dock.

"Do you have some extra rope?" the man asked.

"Of course," the boatman answered. "Can't keep going without some spare rope."

"We're going to need that along with the docking rope," the blonde man told the boatman.

The girls groaned again.

"What are you complaining about?" the boatman asked. "I'm the one moving the boat."

"On the contrary," the blonde man replied. "They're the ones that are going to be moving the boat."

He jumped into the boat and secured the ropes to the bow of the rowboat. He then looked over to his students as they placed their packs in the boat. He snapped his fingers and gave them an order, "Dive."

"Hai."

They secured the ropes shortly after they dove into the water.

The boatman just looked at him.

"Are you just going to stand there?" the sensei asked rhetorically.

This snapped the boatman out of his confusion as he stepped into his rowboat, he asked, "If you were just going to have them swim, then why did you need me, and why are you having them swim there anyway?"

"Most of the stuff in their packs can't get wet, and I can't carry them all," the sensei replied. "Besides, your back is better and you don't have to row both ways, so why are you complaining? Anyway these girls are training and this just happens to be an excellent way to do so."

"I'm not complaining, I'm just curious," the boatman admitted.

"Well satisfying curiosity just happens to be a specialty of mine," the sensei replied to the boatman.

The two kept this conversation up until they reached Nami no Kuni.

The students walked ashore, winded due to not only swimming to the island, but pulling a rowboat with two full grown men in it.

"No complaints, you four," their sensei reprimanded them. "I pulled an entire ship to shore during a storm for twenty-four hours straight, so unless you have something to top that, I don't want to hear any groans of complaining."

"Nice story," the boatman commented as he was getting ready to row out.

"What story," the sensei replied. "That actually happened. The sail of the ship I was on tore in a storm and I had to tow it to the next town, the ship was also carrying some medicine for an outbreak. I couldn't simply let the people die, and that was probably the craziest stunt I pulled to date."

"Oh Kami-sama," the boatman replied in complete shock. "And you're just a doctor?"

"A doctor isn't my profession, I'm just certified," the sensei answered.

"What do you do for a living?" the boatman asked, now seriously wondering what kind of profession could get this person strong enough for a feat like that.

"I'm a shinobi," the sensei replied as if it were no big deal. "Why else would I be pushing these girls so hard?"

"Is this the standard for the shinobi world?" the boatman asked.

"No, it's my standard," the sensei replied.

"Okay, crazy man," the boatman said to him. "How about I at least have your names before I go."

"Certainly," the sensei replied. "Students, line up and introduce yourselves."

"My name is Hanami, but you may just call me Nami," the one with maroon hair replied.

"I am Rika, it's a pleasure to meet you," the black-haired girl with glasses said.

"Meimi," the brown haired girl said, then stopped as her stomach growled. "I'm hungry."

"You'll be fed later," the sensei told her with a bit of annoyance.

"And I'm Kagura," the blonde replied. The cat meowed. "Oh, right, and this is Tategami-chan," she introduced her cat.

"And my name is Kaitou," the sensei, now named Kaitou, finished.

"Am I going to be hearing about you frequently?" the boatman asked.

"That depends on whether or not trouble finds us, which although isn't often, that's more than I would like," Kaitou admitted. "I am like an ocean, always drifting with the currents that the winds dictate, my students just happen to be the passengers in the ship."

"A very nice statement," the boatman replied as he kicked off the dock. "You're an interesting man, I hope I can meet you again."

"I certainly hope not, because that means trouble is close by," Kaitou told him.

The boatman just laughed and said, "Well then I hope we never have to meet again."

"Take care yourself," Kaitou said to him. "That's a doctor's order."

"Will do," the boatman replied as he rowed to the mainland.

* * *

End of Chapter.

Alright, I'm redoing my story because I honestly wasn't enjoying how it was going from where I was, so here's the new plotline.


	2. Chapter 1: Kaitou Revealed

**The Eye of the Beholder**

Read carefully and you might find something for the future. January 04, 2010

"Talking"

'Thinking'

_Flashback_

**Demon and higher beings**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, plain and simple

Chapter 1: Kaitou Revealed

* * *

It's been nearly a year since Kaitou and his students arrived at Nami no Kuni and what he's been doing so far had actually helped a bit of the economy. For starters the local blacksmith was given a few pointers in making better tools, he saw that the smithy was only pounding the metal and not actually shaping it very well, he also introduced the concept of 'Cold Steel', which gave him a little more insight about better lasting metals. With all he'd been doing, he started doing a few carpentry and agricultural projects, and gave a bit of instruction on how to properly reinforce a house's weak points.

They were initially surprised about Kaitou's performance, they weren't expecting his students to be able to keep up with him when he was doing the work.

What really surprised them was when they found out about a friendship occurring with a local fisherman named Kaiza.

Kaitou was having one of his debates about staying with Kaiza and his family.

"Why do you keep insisting on living off the land?" Kaiza was trying to coax Kaitou into building his own house, or at least staying with him. "You've been here a year already, made absolutely no profit, regardless of the work and help with the agricultural aspect of this country. You've taught the local physician more in a week than the twenty-seven years he's been practicing. The carpenters are tearing down less houses due to them staying together more firmly and rotting less. And the blacksmiths are able to give promises about their tools lasting for more that a year." Kaiza paused to let everything sink in, "And after all of this, you still don't live under a roof yourself."

"I understand your concern, but the fact is, I like the outdoors, it allows for more practical living as a shinobi. Besides, as far as I'm concerned, my hammock is all I need and unless someone cuts the forest down, there is no real need for me to burden others with my eating habits," Kaitou explained thoughtfully to his friend. "Besides, with all the creaks in your floorboards Tazuna's sleepwalking becomes unbearable. His snoring is bad enough."

"Hey, I resent that, I don't sleepwalk, I'll give you the snoring," Tazuna said, grumpily.

"Then why do you occasionally wake up with a swollen shin?" Kaitou asked, rhetorically.

Tazuna retorted with a grumble.

Kaiza sighed as he admitted that his friend's logic couldn't be argued with.

"You might want to keep your guard up a bit," Kaitou informed Kaiza as his friend looked at him curiously. "The Gatou shipping company just brought its headquarters here, and I haven't heard the best things about the owner during my travels."

Kaiza nodded, knowing that Kaitou was rarely wrong in these circumstances.

"Now, time to get some work done, I promised to get five houses built within the week, I'll be working non-stop," Kaitou said as he walked out the door. He then whistled for his students, all of whom were nearby, heard him and came when called. "Alright, ladies, five houses in a week, that's seven days, one hundred sixty-eight hours, I'll be doing the brunt of the work to ensure that everything gets done properly. Any questions?" Kaitou asked.

None of them made any movement or indication.

"Let's move out then," Kaitou ordered as he led his students to the area where they were working.

One week later...

During the week Gatou, a short, fat man with messy hair that he was losing gradually was trying to take control of the area with all the thugs he recruited.

Kaiza knew that his friend hated getting involved when he was busy, so he decided to bring the people together.

Needless to say, Gatou didn't like the fact that the people were keeping his thugs at bay so he had them capture Kaiza. He then had Kaiza displayed in front of the people of the town and was about to have his thugs aim their rifles at him.

Meanwhile...

Kaitou had finished working, he had to come up with his own lumber, which he didn't mind in the least. 'I should show them how to properly nurture the tree to ensure that the best ones grow.'

He had just finished eating and was about to lay down and sleep in his hammock, which hung in the forest, high off the ground.

Just as he was about to close his eyes he heard Nami's voice.

"Sensei."

'Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait,' he thought to himself as he closed his eyes.

But his loud student persisted.

"Sensei!!!"

He just turned over, trying to ignore her.

Knowing he heard her she stomped up the tree and screamed into his ear, "SENSEI!!!"

"Geez, What is it!?" Kaitou said as he stuck a finger in his ear, grouchy due to lack of sleep.

"Kaiza-san is about to be executed," Nami explained to him.

Kaitou just groaned as he jumped from his hammock. "Are Rika, Meimi and Kagura ready?"

"Hai, their the ones that sent me," Nami replied.

"Then let's get going," Kaitou said as he focused a bit of chakra to speed himself up.

With Gatou...

The fat business man was speaking to everyone.

"Allow me to show everyone that it is futile to resist," Gatou said as he kicked Kaiza. "This will keep you all in line."

A man then stepped up to Gatou and tapped on his shoulder, "Gatou-sama."

"Not now, I'm busy showing them their futility," the business man told his lackey.

"Gatou-sama," he pressed on with more urgency.

"Later," Gatou told him.

"GATOU-SAMA!!!" the man shouted.

Clearly irritated, Gatou looked at his subordinate with a glare, "What!?"

"INCOMING!!!" the man said as he pointing to the projectile that was getting bigger with its approach.

"OH SHIT, SCATTER!!!" Gatou ordered his men as the weapon reached its destination, Gatou's execution field.

As the huge clump of dirt separated Gatou just looked at his subordinate with serious irritation, "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

Everyone just looked at him with a sweat drop.

Gatou looked at the crowd outside the fence with a demanding look, "Who launched that at us?"

"You mean threw," a female voice said from behind the crowd.

The people split to reveal Kaitou and his students.

Kaitou just walked toward the fence with a yawn as he looked at Gatou with an extremely irritated look.

"Who said that?" Gatou yelled out. "And what do you mean threw?"

"That was me," Rika replied to the criminal. "And that projectile was thrown by hand."

"If you're so smart, then who threw it?" Gatou demanded.

"I did," Kaitou answered with a glare. "I've been up for nearly one hundred sixty-eight hours straight, that's seven days with no sleep, and now I find myself facing a cowardly criminal and my friend tied to a post, about to be executed for no reason."

"I'm not buying that you threw that thing at me, it was far too big and heavy for someone of your build and the angle states that it was thrown at least a kilometer away." Gatou closed his eyes and smirked arrogantly with his chest puffed out, "So there is no way you could have thrown that thing."

"That thing is known as the Doryou Dango," Kaitou said from behind Gatou. "And not only did I throw it, I tore open a hole in your surrounding fence and stepped behind you, all without your notice."

Gatou just turned around and saw that Kaitou was indeed behind him and noticed that there was a hole in the fence, and from the way it was bent it was certainly ripped open. He looked to see all of his men with their jaws agape. "Well don't just stand that, take care of him," he shouted, getting over his shock.

They lifted their weapons only for them to fall apart in their hands.

"Notice anything missing," Kaitou said as he held up a sword.

"What the..." a bulked up man with a patch over his eye looked to see that his sword was gone.

Kaitou looked toward his students, "Okay, ladies, you take care of the thugs and I'll get Kaiza out of here."

It was then that everyone noticed that Kaiza's bonds had bend sliced.

As Kaitou helped his friend, he lifted his hand and threw and sendon in Gatou's direction, giving a slight cut to his cheek.

"Ha, you missed," Gatou said arrogantly.

Kaitou simply held up three fingers, put one down then another and when he just put his hand down, and both he and Gatou fell down.

Kaiza checked his breathing and was relieved that he was only sleeping.

Three years later...

In a village a days travel from Nami no Kuni three kids were positioned in some woods within the walls of the village.

"Spitfire reporting, target spotted," a twelve year old, onyx-haired male with similar colored eyes, wearing a pair of white shorts and a blue high-collared shirt with a red and white fan on the back said through his radio.

"Gale force in position, waiting for signal to strike," a blond boy the same age replied. His hair was messily spiked, his eyes were a deep blue and his cheeks had three marks each on his face. He was wearing a bright orange jumpsuit with a little blue in it.

Both wore a forehead protector on their foreheads.

"Quake in position," a pink-haired girl just barely thirteen with green eyes said. She was wearing a red dress-like shirt that went to her knees and split on the sides at the waist to reveal that she was wearing a pair of spandex shorts to keep her modesty.

"Silver bolt reporting orders, capture target now," a silver-haired man with a forehead protector over his left eye and his hair spiked and slanted to his left told them.

The blond rushed in, and the target started running.

The black haired male cut the target off, forcing it to another direction.

The female surprised the target, getting it to run straight to the blonde male.

The target, which turned out to be a cat, started scratching the blonde's face.

"Spitfire reporting, target capture and confirmed," the black-haired male said as he noted the ribbon tied the the cat's left ear.

"Sakura-chan you take this demon of a cat," the blond said as the cat kept clawing him.

"Okay, Naruto," the female, now known as Sakura picked the cat up from the blond, confirmed as Naruto and calmed it down.

"This is just annoying," the black-haired male said as he looked at the cat.

"For once, Sasuke, we can agree on something," Naruto said to him.

At the central office in the center of the village, in the Hokage Tower...

"Tora-chan," the cat's owner, the daimyo's wife crushed the cat in her arms.

The four shinobi just looked at the cat with pity as the lady of Hono no Kuni left the room, not even wondering why it keeps running away.

An old man sitting behind a desk farthest from the door said, "Team Seven, your next missions are babysitting, shopping and helping digging for potatoes."

"Iie," Naruto shouted. "No more of the lower class missions right now, I want something that can test us, oyaji."

'I agree,' Sasuke and Sakura thought at the same time.

The silver-haired shinobi just sighed.

"Baka, you're just rookies," the man sitting right beside the old man. "You have to work your way up." The man speaking had a tan complexion with a scar across the bridge of his nose and his hair pulled into a tight ponytail.

"Demo, Iruka-sensei, most of the missions we get are just crappy," Naruto kept up his argument.

"Urusai, Naruto," the silver-haired man hit Naruto in the head with his fist. "Gomen, Hokage-sama."

"Kakashi-sensei, that hurt," Naruto complained.

"Naruto, let me explain," the Hokage said to the shinobi. "Everyday the village receives requests from babysitting to assassination, each mission's level of difficulty and danger is placed in rankings of A, B, C, or D. Most of the time only Jounin like Kakashi are able to do A and B rank missions while Chuunin are described in being able to do B and C rank mission, you, Sasuke and Sakura can only do D rank and maybe the occasional C rank if you have enough D ranks. If said mission is done successfully then you can get paid. Don't complain so much, it's better to do lower rank missions and get your skill level and experience up rather than die due to lack of either," the Hokage finished looking a Naruto, who wasn't paying attention.

"Last night I had pork ramen, so miso sounds good for..." Naruto mumbled to himself.

"Oi! Listen to me," the Hokage yelled at Naruto.

"All you're doing is lecturing," Naruto said to him. "We've done enough D-rank missions for now, we need something to help gauge our strength against the real world. I haven't caused trouble since becoming a Genin so at least give us something more."

Kakashi sighed again.

The Hokage smiled as Naruto's enthusiasm and said, "We have a C-rank mission, you'll be escorting and protecting someone."

With that a Red-eyed woman with near black hair walked in alongside three Genin the same age as Team 7. One of them was a pale-skinned female with dark blue hair, her hitai-ate around her neck, a tan jacket that was a tad big for her, but her most distinguishing features were her white eyes. The next one was a tanned slightly tanned male that was a few inches taller that her and had a white puppy on top of his head, he wore his hitai-ate like Naruto and Sasuke and was wearing a gray hoody with said hood on his head, the hood itself had black fur lining the edges. He had red triangle marks on both cheeks and with his canine teeth longer that normal and with his eyes looking slitted he carried a feral look to him. The last member was by far the most mysterious looking. It was a male that was wearing a heavy coat like his team mates but this one was high collared and hid his mouth, with his round sunglasses you wouldn't be able to make head or tails of his facial expressions. He carried himself in what appeared to be of utmost seriousness and he wore his hitai-ate like his fellow male team mate.

"Pardon the interruption but Team 8 reporting completion of mission," the woman stated.

"No trouble at all Kurenai-san," the Hokage said as he reached out to receive the documents that the woman, now known as Kurenai, held. "Actually you have good timing, I was just about to assign Team 7 a C-rank mission, how about we make it a joint team mission."

"I have no problems with this Hokage-sama, but it's the Genin who will have to make the final decision," Kakashi admitted truthfully.

"I concur," Kurenai agreed.

They looked at the Genin only to find Naruto and the one with the puppy conversing.

"Hey, Kiba," Naruto told him. "How have you, Shino and Hinata been doing?"

The puppy started growling.

"Oh, sorry," Naruto said. "And how have you been doing too Akamaru?"

"Not bad actually," the boy now known as Kiba answered as Naruto reached up and scratched behind Akamaru's ear, to which the puppy leaned into.

"Okay, how can you do this well with Akamaru but not keep the Daimyo's cat from scratching you?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow.

"First, Kiba and I would always hang together when we ran out of Iruka-sensei's class," Naruto told her, this got a pulsing vein from Iruka and a sweat drop from Kakashi, Kurenai and Hiruzen. "I got to know Kiba and Akamaru pretty well, his mother and sister aren't bad either. Second, Akamaru has been trained to interact with people to ensure he doesn't bite the wrong person. And finally that damn cat is a demon incarnate."

"Another thing we can agree on," Kiba said with a smirk.

"I think this will work out well," Hiruzen said to no one in particular.

"What'll work out?" Kiba asked.

"They want us to do a C-rank mission with Team 7," the one with sunglasses.

"You know, Shino, you don't speak much and when you do it's to the point and I salute you for that," Naruto commented. "So as far as this protection mission goes, it can't be a daimyo or hime since it's a C-rank, so it'll probably be an protecting old man from some bandits," everyone in the room looked at Naruto in surprise at how much thought he put into what he just said. Noticing everyone's stares Naruto just asked, "What?"

"That's actually well thought out," Kakashi told his student.

"And accurate too, come on in," the Hokage said as he pulled the scroll out.

A chubby old man stepped in and looked mildly surprised at his escorts, "Which one is the Uchiha?"

Sasuke stepped forward, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke."

The old man looked around and noticed the pale-eyed female, "Hmm, I get a Hyuuga as a guard as well, not a bad deal." He walked over to her and asked, "And what's your name ojou-san?"

She seemed a tad nervous, given the fact that she was twiddle her fingers but she stuttered out, "Hy-hy-hyuuga Hina-na-ta."

The man tapped his chin a bit and took a drink from the flask he was carrying, "Hinata eh, well you might want to take care of that stutter. These eyes have seen a great deal in my lifetime, so I can tell right off the bat that your father will have to beat all the suitors away when you're older, and the stuttering will only hinder their ability to interpret what you're saying, that is if they listen in the first place."

Hinata blushed at Tazuna's compliment while Shino raised an eyebrow and Kiba just chuckled while Kurenai just smiled a bit.

"Pardon me, but how did you know that there was going to be an Uchiha in your escort?" Kakashi asked with clear curiosity in his visible eye.

"He requested an Uchiha escort," the Hokage admitted with a chuckle.

Iruka couldn't help but let out a small laugh as well.

Then Naruto just yelled out, "YOU MEAN WE WERE GOING TO HAVE THIS MISSION ANYWAY!!!?"

That only made the Hokage and Iruka laugh even harder.

"Gomen, Naruto, but I figured this was fair play after the whole incident with the scroll," the Hokage said to the Genin.

'What is he talking about?' Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba, Shino and Hinata were thinking while Naruto just grumbled.

"My name is Tazuna, I'm the super expert bridge builder and I expect full protection from the likes of you," Tazuna told them.

"You only seemed surprised about your protection, not angry or disappointed," Kakashi inquired. "Actually you seemed pleased when you saw Hinata."

"The man who suggested the shinobi told me about the different clans, the Uchiha, the Hyuuga, the Yamanaka, the Aburame, etc, the blond kid resembles someone I know and I know better than to underestimate a female at her age, especially if she gives off the aura of a bad temper," Tazuna whispered to Kakashi.

Kakashi just chuckled at his last comment.

The next day...

As they were traveling they were attacked and the whole incident revealed that there were shinobi after Tazuna.

"So why did you lie about the mission ranking?" Kakashi asked.

"Because the village I live in couldn't afford an A-rank mission without taking it out of the funds we need for everyday life, even if we're doing better than we would have prior to a man and his students arriving four years ago, and this is the same man that suggested the whole situation. He is the same man that Naruto resembles and he isn't stupid enough not to know about the whole situation with the Uchiha clan, which is why he made the request for a Genin team. He knew that at the very least an exceptional Jounin would be apart of the team and therefore, if the Genin couldn't handle it, the Jounin could," Tazuna explained. "From what he described to me, he knew the Uchiha clan personally so that's why he suggested them, his four students are all female that are around the Genin's age so that's why I'm not complaining about the girl, you get on the temper of one of them you better hope for two things, one they don't aim low, and two that you don't go into shock, because that is the biggest indication that you can no longer be happy," Tazuna shuddered a bit. "The whole situation with Naruto is that it's scary how much the two resemble one another; they even emit similar smells."

"What do you mean similar smell?" Sasuke asked, clearly curious about this.

"Aside from the obvious height difference, he has spiky blond hair that's very messy, deep blue eyes, the skin tone is almost exactly the same and finally he has the scent of grain, salt, egg, pork, beef, chicken, shrimp and miso," Tazuna explained even more.

"Wait a minute, grains, salt and eggs are essential ingredients for making ramen from the basis and the rest are flavors," Naruto commented, thoughtfully.

"Those are some of the many scents among you, Naruto," Kiba admitted.

Sasuke couldn't help but a his own two cents, "And that's when you actually bathe."

"Well that's..." Naruto paused and then got into Sasuke's face. "Are you saying I have bad hygiene?"

"Not in so many words, but the insinuation is there," Sasuke replied with a smirk.

"Somehow I'm not surprised that he knows about the basics of making ramen from scratch," Tazuna commented as he watched the two at each other's throats. "Anyway, the guy can't get enough of the stuff, it's actually one of the only ways we've been able to bribe him to stay and keep us protected."

"Who is this guy?" Sakura asked.

"You're all going to meet him soon anyway, I'm meeting him after we take a boat across," Tazuna told them.

Shortly after they entered Nami no Kuni they came across a lake, after a few events and a fight between Kakashi and Momochi Zabuza while Kurenai kept most of his mizu bunshin at bay. He saw Kakashi finish his seals and did something unexpected, he jumped out of the way and took out his sword, Kubikiri Honchou and was about to slice Tazuna in half when Sakura pushed him out of the way.

"A noble sacrifice," Zabuza said as he followed through with his swing. "But a foolish move," he finished as he sliced her in in half.

What everyone saw as the dust cleared could only be described as inconceivable, if not impossible.

Sakura stood there, completely unharmed.

"WHAT THE HELL!!!?" Zabuza said as he went for a horizontal slice.

Sakura just closed her eyes instinctively until she felt something move through her, but for some reason there was no pain.

Since there was no smoke or dust everyone had a clear view of what happened.

The sword didn't slice her, instead it just went right through her.

Everyone else just looked in shock.

Zabuza saw Tazuna again and decided to get the job done. When he finally neared Tazuna he found that he couldn't move his sword. He looked behind him to find it tangled in Kaitou's cloak.

"Hey there," Kaitou said with a smirk.

"You," Zabuza said, clearly remembering the man as he tried to get his sword untangled from Kaitou's cloak.

"Me," Kaitou taunted. He took his cloak off completely to reveal a black trench coat underneath it. He then rushed forward and struck Zabuza twenty-three times in almost a blink of an eye.

"Ugh," Zabuza groaned.

Kaitou approached Zabuza and snatched a sendon out of the air, "No need get desperate, young one, I'm not going to kill him." Kaitou pulled a sendon of his own and stuck it into Zabuza's shoulder. He then threw Zabuza into a nearby tree.

A shadow jumped out and headed into another direction.

"Are you sure that was wise?" Kakashi asked as he pulled his hitae-ate over his Sharingan. He stumbled a bit.

"About as sure that you've overexerted yourself and that that slime ball Gatou probably isn't going to fulfill his end of the contract if Zabuza did succeed," Kaitou answered as he picked up Zabuza's sword and sealed it in a scroll. He then ran over and caught Kakashi as said Jounin was falling over. "Who told you to exert yourself this much? Your situation wasn't that desperate. You've made good use of that gift, but really, you'd think after a few times you'd have trained your body to be able to take this amount of time."

"Why didn't you help sooner!?" Tazuna snapped at Kaitou as said person hefted Kakashi onto his back.

"I was sleeping, so sue me," Kaitou answered bluntly.

"I would, but the village owes you too much, not that we could get much from a lawsuit anyway," Tazuna replied with a chuckle.

"You slept through that whole battle?" Sasuke asked in disbelief.

"Out of everything what woke you up?" Sakura asked, now curious about what could disturb this guy's sleep.

"The Suiryudan clash splashed some water on my face," Kaitou answered simply.

"That's certainly stereotypical," Sasuke mentioned as he followed the bridge builder and the older shinobi.

"Yeah, but it's not the safest method," Tazuna mentioned with a shudder. "This man is not a morning person, and splashing him will only make him irritable."

"Then what is the safest method?" Sakura asked, clearly curious.

"No one in the village has figured that one out yet," Tazuna admitted. "So far, the safest for civilians is mentioning someone in trouble that's too much for the people to handle, if it happens to be thugs causing the problems, they're the only ones that aren't safe."

"That joke gets old after a while," Kaitou told them in irritation at the memories. "Tazuna, do you remember the story, 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf'? That'll eventually happen if you do that too many times."

They all headed toward Tazuna's house.

As everyone entered the house, a young boy, about eight ran and hugged Tazuna, "Jii-chan, I prayed to Kami-sama that you would come back okay."

"That's enough Inari, do you have that little faith in me?" Kaitou said to the boy.

The only response Inari gave to Kaitou was pulling his bottom eyelid down and sticking his tongue out.

Kaitou just turned to the Genin and said, "This some of the stuff I have to deal with every day." Kaitou then took Kakashi up to one of the rooms.

Naruto stepped forward, "Inari, was it?"

Inari just nodded as he got a good look at Naruto, "Are you related to Kaitou-jiisan?"

"Actually, I'm not really sure," Naruto admitted. "I've been an orphan since the day I was born so I really don't know if there is a blood relation."

"Just be happy there's a possibility," Sasuke told Naruto.

"What's with him?" Inari asked.

"Sasuke lost his parents at a young age," Kaitou said to them. "I believe it's been about four years."

"How did you know my name?" Sasuke asked.

"I knew your father," Kaitou answered. "He told me that if he ever had another child, the name would either be Sora or Sasuke."

"What was he like?" Sasuke asked, clearly interested.

"Later," Kaitou told him as he walked to Naruto. "Follow me," Kaitou said as he turned to walk up the stairs.

As Sasuke and Sakura were about to follow.

"Just him," pointing to Naruto.

"I have a name, you know," Naruto said, annoyed.

"May I have it then, surname included?" Kaitou asked Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto replied.

Kaitou then made a follow gesture and Naruto did so.

They went into the room next to the one Kakashi was currently resting.

Kaitou locked the door and walked toward Naruto. "May I have the knowledge of your age and birth date?"

"I'm twelve and my birthday is October 10," Naruto answered, unsure of where he was going with this.

Kaitou then lifted the front of Naruto's shirt and said, "Pleases, mold some chakra, Naruto."

Naruto was confused about his request but did so.

Kaitou saw a spiral seal appear on Naruto's stomach and let go of his shirt, "That's enough."

"What exactly was this all about?" Naruto asked curiously.

Kaitou sat down and patted a spot right beside him.

Understanding the gesture Naruto sat beside Kaitou.

"The first thing you are entitled to know is who I am," Kaitou said to Naruto. "But before that," Kaitou walked to the door and slammed his elbow against it and opened it right after to find Sasuke, Sakura and Kiba rubbing their heads. "Mind your own business," Kaitou told them as he walked back in and closed the door, locking it again.

Naruto just sweat dropped.

Kaitou walked back to Naruto and sat back down, "I am Namikaze Kaitou, and your father was my older brother."

"Were you half-brothers?" Naruto asked.

"No, Uzumaki was your mother's maiden name," Kaitou said, figuring that was source of Naruto's question.

"If you're the younger brother of my father, and your surname is Namikaze, then that makes my father..." Naruto trailed off as he placed his hand on his stomach.

"So he was the one that sealed the fox in you," Kaitou finished.

"How'd you figure all that out?" Naruto asked, seeing that Kaitou wasn't the kind of person to shirk his duties to family if he was aware of them.

"Your birthday and age specify the the exact date of Kyuubi attacking Konoha, the seal on your stomach appears when you mold chakra," Kaitou explained to his nephew. "And finally, I knew Minato well enough to know that he wouldn't put you in this situation if it was avoidable, but the fact is that I don't think he wanted to put this kind of burden on his son, let alone someone of which he had no relation or responsibility to, because I doubt you were the only child born on that day."

"How did you know that the seal was on my stomach?" Naruto asked.

"That was a guess," Kaitou admitted. "Since the stomach is where chakra is produced for the body. I figured that would be where he put the seal. You know, I would just love to punch the lights out of your godfather for not even taking any form of responsibility of taking care of you growing up."

"I have a godfather?" Naruto asked.

"One who would have known who you were at first glance," Kaitou told him. "That pervert is probably spying on a woman's onsen as we speak."

At an unknown hot spring...

A man with long spiky white hair sneezed, blowing his cover as the women started to cover themselves and check who was there.

Back at Tazuna's house...

Kaitou told Naruto everything about his parents.

"Minato, in short, was a genius," Kaitou explained to him. "His thought process of how to get through most situations was nothing short of spectacular. He also had two specific techniques, one of which he could not complete," Kaitou then held his left hand out and demonstrated.

A ball of compressed chakra that was spiraling appeared in his hand.

"This technique is known as the Rasengan. I'm still trying to figure out the best concept to complete it myself," Kaitou admitted as the technique disappeared. "That being said I did make two other techniques that although look like almost exactly the same, but work in different ways than it. Their base concept is exactly the same, but their results are drastically different. Now I'll teach you Rasengan, but you'll have to train heavily in order for it to work properly, and when I say that, I mean you need complete control over your chakra."

Naruto nodded and asked, "What was the other techniques that tou-san used?"

"His main fighting technique, this one actually gained him the name Kiiroi Senko," Kaitou answered Naruto. "It was the Hiraishin no jutsu, he wiped out a serious portion of Iwa shinobi during the Third Shinobi War."

"Suke," Naruto said in amazement.

"I actually have the scroll for that technique on me right now," Kaitou said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out said scroll. He moved it toward Naruto and said, "I must give you two warnings about this technique, 1. You need to perfect every ability as a shinobi to be able to use this technique properly, and 2. You must only use this technique as a last resort. Only when I think you're ready will you read this scroll, promise me."

"I promise on the honor of my father's name and my future position as Hokage, I won't read this scroll until I meet your approval," Naruto swore as he took the scroll from his uncle's hand. As Naruto thought for a bit he asked, "Kaitou-ji, what's to stop someone else from reading this in the future?"

"A very good question," Kaitou commented as he explained. "This scroll has a seal that requires blood and chakra from one of the same bloodline as the one who set it, which was me. So no one that isn't blood related will be getting into that scroll any time soon."

"What was Okaa-san like?" Naruto asked.

"Truth is, she was like a raging hurricane," Kaitou told him. "She was one of the most powerful kunoichi that I knew. She even scared my sensei from time to time," he admitted.

"Who did teach you?" Naruto asked.

"The Hebi Sannin, Orochimaru," Kaitou answered with no shame. "He offered me a chance as his apprentice, but I couldn't take him up on it."

"Why is that?" Naruto asked.

"I wanted to make myself known for being more than Orochimaru's student," Kaitou said with a serious look. "You of all people must know what it's like to live in another's shadow, so what I did, I just kept up a training regiment for every aspect as a shinobi. I studied up, learning what I could about medical practices and techniques. I figured out different kinds of poisons and drugs that could be effective for interrogation. I learned every aspect of being an all around shinobi, and that's when I found out about what this family can really do."

"And what is that?" Naruto asked.

"It's a kekkei genkai," Kaitou told him. "As a medic I had to do autopsies of different bodies, under some circumstances a full body autopsy is required, my skin brushed against the cerebellum of the body of an Uchiha who had awakened his sharingan and immediately, not only did I know how the sharingan worked, but my body readjusted itself, and before I knew it," Kaitou looked at Naruto and his eyes changed from blue to red and had three tomoes in them. "I copied the bloodline completely. So far I've only copied the sharingan and the byakugan."

"Do you think I'll be able to do that?" Naruto asked.

"It's possible, Minato was never a medic, which was why I was the only one to notice this," Kaitou told him. "I like to call this bloodline the Koukishin Kaishin. I'm still trying to figure out the best method of copying without the person in question dieing, which might have just revealed itself today."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"I'll explain later," Kaitou told him as he walked over to unlock the door. "Now let's get something to eat."

"Ah," Naruto said, excited about all the information he just received.

* * *

End of Chapter...

An odd situation, I got the idea about the bloodline explanation from 'Heroes', you'll see what I mean. Now what did Kaitou mean 'Just revealed itself'? Read carefully or wait for future chapters. I like constructive criticism. Just no flames please.


	3. Chapter 2: Ramen, Training and Truth

**The Eye of the Beholder**

I have no reviews for the last chapters. I know I'm remaking, but really. January 13, 2010

"Talking"

'Thinking'

_Flashbacks_

**Demons and Higher Beings**

Disclaimer: You know the deal, I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 2: Ramen, Training and Truth

* * *

The next morning...

Sasuke and Sakura had gotten up Kakashi while Kiba, Shino and Hinata carried the problem of getting the two newly acquainted relatives up.

"You'd think we could just pour water on them, like before," Kiba commented.

"I asked Kaiza-san about that, apparently he snapped at everyone who approached him, and those who attacked him were claimed to have been muttering about demons with blond hair and blue eyes," Shino told him.

"And yelling is no good, his students mentioned one of them tried that and he kept throwing punch after punch when he got up," Hinata said. "They said he was still asleep while he was fighting."

"He's Naruto's relative in that aspect as well as his looks, because Naruto is not a morning person either," Sakura commented.

'Naruto's relative,'Sasuke thought as he remembered something. Then an idea came to him.

"Do you four mind watching them for a bit?" Sasuke asked.

"Do I have any other choice?" Kakashi asked rhetorically.

"You don't, they do," Sasuke responded indicating the genin of team 8.

"Why not, it's not like he's going anywhere at the moment," Kiba commented.

Shino and Hinata just nodded.

Sasuke nodded as well as he took Sakura by the hand and went downstairs.

Sakura was blushing while Sasuke was doing this.

Tazuna and his family were up and about as Sasuke brought his teammate down.

Sasuke gathered everyone save for Inari together and explained his plan.

Everyone but Sasuke and Sakura were thinking the same thoughts, 'Why didn't I think of that?'

"You think thirty will be enough?" Sakura asked.

Meimi's stomach growled.

Everyone else just looked at her.

"Better make it forty," Sasuke answered.

Half an hour later Sasuke and Sakura walked up the steps, Sasuke with a pair of crutches in hand.

Kakashi was reading his book with a giggle and a perverted look in his eye, while Hinata was unconscious.

"Ecchi," Naruto and Kaitou both muttered in their sleep.

Sasuke, Sakura and Kiba sweat dropped at this.

"What happened?" Sakura asked.

"Kiba made a bad joke and Hinata fainted because of said joke," Shino answered.

"I figured it might work if we tried a 'Sleeping Beauty' scenario and since Shino and I have no liking to males I suggested Hinata, and that's when she fainted," Kiba explained with a chuckle.

"Baka," Kaitou muttered.

Sasuke and Sakura sweat dropped again.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke said getting his attention. He handed the crutches to his sensei as he whispered what Kakashi should do.

"Good idea," Kakashi commented as he moved himself so he wasn't in between the two relatives and the door.

Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba and Shino, both holding Hinata, followed suit.

Kakashi spoke out, "You better wake up or your ramen will get cold."

All three of them felt a breeze and the images of Naruto and Kaitou on the futon faded as the blankets fell to the space that its support once occupied.

"It's a good thing, we had everything prepared," Sakura said to no one in particular.

Kakashi nodded, "I think we just found the safest method of waking those two."

His student could only mutter an agreement.

As the rest of Team 7 and Team 8 with a, conscious Hinata, entered the dining area they noticed that Naruto was on his fifth bowl while Kaitou was on his twelth. They also noticed a few used rice bowls and some other dishes for sides next to Kaitou's ramen as he kept engorging himself.

Kaitou placed another bowl in his pile as he swallowed and said to his nephew, "Naruto, you'll need to eat more than just ramen if you want your growth to improve."

"I'd eas nore variesy iths ny vudges were higher," Naruto said with his mouth full.

"Low budget or not, variety is necessary for proper health," Kaitou reprimanded. "And don't talk with your mouth full."

Most looked at Kaitou while the rest of team seven looked at Naruto.

"What?" Kaitou asked.

"You actually understood what Naruto said?" Tazuna asked.

"I'm actually more surprised that Naruto had a good reason for not eating anything but ramen," Kakashi commented.

"I concur," Sasuke nodded.

"You mean you understood what he said?" Kaiza asked.

"We're used to Naruto's manners," Sakura said simply.

"Hey, I resent that," Naruto complained before stuffing his mouth again.

This just got a chuckle from nearly everyone at the table.

In the woods...

"Alright teams," Kakashi spoke to his students as they stood in the area they would be training. "Time to train up on your chakra control."

"Tree climbing?" Kaitou asked."Hai," Kakashi said as he walked up to the tree.

"The basics are simple, you must be able to use your chakra to walk up the tree," Kaitou explained to the three. "You need to focus the exact amount at the soles of your feet to be able to do this properly. Now watch your sensei."

Kakashi held his hands in the ram symbol and just started walking up slowly with the help of his crutches. When he was finished he was hanging on one of the branches upside down by he feet.

"Before you six get started, I'm going to explain a few things," Kaitou said as he started walking up the tree himself. "The demonstration is simple, use too little," Kaitou let up a bit and started sliding down the side. He reset himself as he walked back up. "And if you use too much," Kaitou then blasted himself off of the tree, leaving a heavy indent where he was standing moments before as he landed right beside the genin. "Now before I give you six a proper training tip I want you three to trying your luck first."

"Best start off running," Kakashi said as he walked up beside his students.

Naruto made it about three steps before slipping and falling.

"No surprise," Kakashi commented about Naruto's performance.

Sasuke made five steps before repelling himself off of the tree, leaving a small indent as he jumped down.

"Even less there," Kaitou admitted as he looked at the progress of Sakura with mild surprise.

He then noticed Shino and Hinata also on one of the branches while Kiba had a few scratch marks before he fell.

"Wow, that was easier than I thought," Sakura said as she sat on the top branch.

"Also not a surprise, Shino and Hinata are both from prominent clans so chakra control are some of the main things that are drilled into into them when they start training as a shinobi, and Kiba is also no surprise, Tsume hasn't exactly been known for her patience, she probably figured Kiba would take a while," Kaitou commented.

"Get down here," Kaitou told the three as Naruto, Sasuke and Kiba stepped forward. Kaitou turned to Kakashi and said, "Don't try attacking their pride, it'll only cause problems in the long run." Kaitou then turned to Naruto, Sasuke and Kiba and told them, "Kakashi and I weren't surprised by you performances, so therefore we weren't disappointed either."

"Now you both have goals that require extensive training and serious growth," Kakashi explained to them as Sakura joined up. "All you genin need to bring your control to a whole new level."

Kaitou pulled out a piece of wire and walked up to a tree. He crouched down and moved his hand quick across the trunk. He then picked the tree up and walked to them as all seven of the other shinobi had a shocked look on their faces.

"Okay, my control isn't even up to that level," Kakashi said as he examined the area Kaitou cut to see it done perfectly. "Did you run your chakra through the wire?"

"With the right control, a piece of paper can slice through a battle axe," Kaitou said cryptically. "Now it's time to help with training. Kakashi, you go back to the house, they're safer when you're there. I'll be working on their training, and no arguments given your condition."

"What method are you going to use?" Kakashi asked before he left.

"Kage Bunshin, not the whole twenty years in a week, more toned down to ensure better progress without too much exhaustion," Kaitou answered. He placed the log down and sat on it.

Kakashi nodded as he headed toward Tazuna's house.

"Now before we jump the gun on anything, how about we welcome our guests," Kaitou said as he took his cloak off, folded it and placed it on the log. He did the same method with his trench coat, but put that on the ground. Finally, he pulled his pant legs up and took off the weights he was wearing and placed them on the ground as well.

Kaitou was wearing a short sleeved navy blue shirt with orange sleeves. Kaitou then ran out of the genins' view.

The three team mates heard a slam. A few seconds later Kaitou walked back with a man wearing a black cloak with red clouds on them and a Konoha hitai-ate with a slash through it.

What got their attention the most was his black hair and the sharingan in both eyes.

"Itachi," Sasuke muttered as Kaitou sat down and glared at Sasuke.

This got him to calm down a bit.

"Konnichiwa, otouto," Itachi said to Sasuke as he sat down as well. He looked at Naruto and said, "Naruto-sama."

Sasuke just gritted his teeth.

Naruto just gave him a shocked look. "TAKA-ANIKI!!!" he shouted.

Itachi just smirked at Naruto's recognition.

"Turn your sharingan off," Kaitou told him.

"Hai, sensei," Itachi said, surprising all three genin as his eyes turned from red to black.

"My apprentice," Kaitou told them. "Now how exactly did you come to be here?" he asked Itachi.

"Well, Otou-san and Okaa-san wanted an heir, so one night they..." Itachi said but was cut off.

"NOT THAT FAR BACK, SMART ASS!!!" Kaitou shouted.

Naruto, Sakura and Kiba snickered a bit while Sasuke couldn't help but snort, trying to hide his amusement and Hinata was smiling. Shino remained as stoic as usual.

"Got any pocky?" Itachi asked with a smirk.

"Oh Kami-sama," Kaitou said as he pulled one of his scrolls out and summoned a few snacks.

Naruto, Sakura and Kiba were trying to control themselves as Sasuke joined in the snickering while Hinata was just chuckling. Shino still kept a straight face.

"Would you like fries with that?" Kaitou asked sarcastically.

"No, I'm good," Itachi responded smartly.

This lead five of the genin to laugh heavily now at the interaction while Shino cracked a small smile.

"And the worst part is that I made him this way," Kaitou admitted as he handed the snacks to the genin and Itachi. "Now explain," Kaitou said, all business.

"It started with a plan to overthrow the Hokage and take over," Itachi started.

_Flashback_

"_Shisui, what did you want to talk about?" Itachi asked his closest friend._

"_Itachi, read this," Shisui said as he handed Itachi a set of documents._

"_This is how to obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan," Itachi said as he finished reading said documents. "Why are you showing me this?"_

"_Because some outer force is trying to control the Uchiha, they want to overthrow the Hokage," Shisui admitted as tears started falling from his eyes. "They've already gotten me, they want you as well."_

"_With your abilities..." Itachi said as Shisui pulled his shirt to reveal a mark on his neck._

"_What is that?" Itachi asked with alarm._

"_It's what's controlling me," Shisui said as he started to cry full blown. "You're the only one I can't control, that makes you the strongest."_

"_What does that have to do with it?" Itachi asked as he started to fear the worst._

"_Itachi-san, you must take my life," Shisui yelled with complete urgency. "You must destroy the one who is controlling me, or else the Uchiha have no future, it's already too late for me."_

"_Why must it be me?" Itachi asked._

"_Because you want peace more than anything, you are the only one able to stop them," Shisui answered. "And, if all else fails, you're the only one capable of destroying and rebuilding the clan as it should be. Onegai," Shisui was on his knees at this point in time._

_Tears started falling from Itachi's eyes as he grabbed Shisui by the collar._

_Flashback End_

"The same force that was controlling Shisui got to the Uchiha council," Itachi said as tears that he had been holding back since the slaughter of his family fell. "I found out how to remove the seal shortly after I fled Konoha, I'm only ninety percent sure about the who, but I can't act until I know for sure."

"Are we the only ones that know this much of the story?" Kaitou asked.

"Other than the one who tried to implement the takeover, yes," Itachi admitted.

"First question, who ordered the elimination of the clan?" Kaitou asked.

"Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, through the prodding of his advisors, Koharu, Homura and Danzo," Itachi answered with no hesitation.

"That asshole of a war hawk is still alive? You'd think someone who would use any means to gain a powerful position would have been executed by now," Kaitou thought aloud. "Second question, besides us, who are all that know of the Hokage's orders?"

"Him, his advisors and Uchiha Madara," Itachi answered.

"I take he's the one who helped you with the elimination?" Kaitou asked rhetorically. "That answers my third question. Fourth question, what did the mark on Shisui look like?"

Itachi just pulled out a slip of paper and calligraphy brush and ink and drew what the mark looked like.

Kaitou just looked at it, waiting for the ink to dry. "I honestly haven't see anything like this, that being said, it looks like a trio of sixes."

Itachi looked at it and commented, "It does."

"Well, I can't say I'm one hundred percent positive, but I can say that my conclusion is probably the same as yours," Kaitou said as he folded up the piece of paper and put it in his pocket. "It looks to me like a snake has slithered into the flames. Cold-blooded or not this snake is probably going to end up as ashes."

"My partner is probably coming to about now," Itachi said. "Best of luck to you."

"One thing, Itachi," Kaitou called out. He walked over and whispered into Itachi's ear.

Itachi just nodded.

"You can't fool me," Kaitou said as he held out his hand.

Itachi handed him a scroll. "This should have all you need."

Kaitou nodded.

"Nii-san," Sasuke muttered.

"You lived because you were innocent," Itachi told him. "Insignificant until the death of everyone else, but remember, otouto," Itachi told him. "Significance one sees in you is not the one you should be trying to achieve, it's significance in oneself, if people's belief in you is what you rely on, eventually you'll end up feeling empty when they praise another, search to ensure that you can find a purpose for yourself. Never abandon your friends, your family or your true loyalties, because if you do, you'll end up no better than the people who destroyed our family."

"Nii-san," Sasuke said, louder.

Itachi just smirked as he walked over to his younger brother and tapped him on the forehead. "Show everyone your true strength and not your hatred," Itachi said as he walked away.

And Sasuke cried, for the first time in four years, he cried.

* * *

End of Chapter...

Shorter than the last, but I just had to end it there. This is not a cliffhanger moment, and I like the concept myself. Ending a chapter this short on a cliffhanger is not my style.


	4. Chapter 3: Training

**The Eye of the Beholder**

This is all just training an redoing a few chapters. January 16, 2010

"Talking"

'Thinking'

_Flashbacks_

**Demons and Higher beings speaking**

Disclaimer: You know the drill, I own nothing of Naruto

Chapter 3: Training

* * *

Sasuke finally calmed down and walked to the lake to wash his face a bit, because who really wants to train with a runny nose.

When Sasuke returned Kaitou started, "First thing, Naruto, try making a bunshin with as little chakra as you possibly can."

"Ah," Naruto did as such, trying to hold back as much as possible. He called out, "Bunshin no jutsu."

Smoke appeared and when it disappated a sickly looking form that could barely be considered a bunshin appeared right next to Naruto.

Sasuke and Sakura sweatdropped at Naruto's demostration.

"Hmm, I see why you didn't pass initially," Kaitou commented as he felt how much chakra Naruto used as the bunshin dispelled. "I believe the concept 'Divide and Conquer' would well represent this situation."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, clearly curious about his thought process.

"Naruto was restraining as much chakra as he could," Kaitou explained. "Though he has a very unique problem which gives him a vast amount of chakra, therefore pushing a great deal into his system. My thought is, maybe he should make as many bunshin as possible using the amount he was trying with just one," he finished.

"What exactly is his problem?" Sasuke asked.

"That's not my place to tell, and Naruto will answer when he feels the time is right," Kaitou admitted as he stepped away from Naruto. "Now, Naruto, execute."

"Yosh," Naruto said as he focused again. Naruto the called out, "Bunshin no jutsu," and a massive amount of bunshin appeared.

"My guess is fifty, minimum," Kaitou commented. "Is this still the final test at the academy?"

"Hai," all three answered as all of the bunshin were dispelled.

Kaitou just groaned, "You'd think that Konoha would have at least come up with a more accurate way of showing that genin are ready for the field; with this kind of test it's no wonder shinobi have such a high death rate at young ages."

The six flinched at this comment.

"Alright," Kaitou said as he pulled out a scroll. "First and foremost, everyone but Naruto will read this scroll."

The five genin nodded as he turned to Naruto, "Give them a few tips for proper execution. The scroll they're reading is for the kage bunshin, so with your experience, it shouldn't be a problem."

"Ah," Naruto said as he walked toward his team mates.

Naruto gave them his advice and for the next few hours Kaitou and Naruto watched with amusement as they continued with their training. Hinata was the first to get it down, followed by Sakura, then Shino, then Sasuke and finally Kiba. When the five finally got it down, Kaitou threw over a sack of soldier pills.

"You're going to need these," Kaitou insisted as they each took one and handed the rest back to Kaitou. Kaitou whispered into Sakura's ear and then ordered his charges for the moment, "Each of us will make one kage bunshin."

All seven did so.

"Now all four of us will go deep into the woods," Kaitou's bunshin ordered as he made his way into the woods. The genins' bunshins close behind.

About two minutes later everyone's eyes opened wider as they looked at Sasuke.

"Did you really mean that?" Sakura asked, a tad surprised.

"Ah," Sasuke nodded. "The fact is, most fangirls only want to gain the attention of someone and not improve themselves, and, in all honesty, I can't see myself with someone who not only can I not respect but also doesn't respect themself, as a person in general as well as a shinobi. The less seriously you take training, the more you put yourself and others at risk during missions such as these."

"I concur with Sasuke's logic," Shino agreed.

"Damn straight," Kiba added.

"I agree with Sasuke, why are you a shinobi if you don't train yourself seriously?" Kaitou asked rhetorically. After a few seconds, he continued, "As you have experienced, anything your bunshin finds goes straight to the user the moment the bunshin is dispelled."

"So what you're saying is that if me and one of my kage bunshin do the same kind of experience exercise..." Naruto said.

"You get double the results," Kaitou said to him. "Now, obviously, you can't use this for physical training because no matter how much work you use a bunshin with, they can't heal the same way as humans can. That being said you can use this kind of training to work on building up your chakra reserves as well as control or perfecting a technique. The possibilties are endless, but how much you can do at once is limited to a pretty low amount until your chakra reserves and your stamina have increased."

"So how many do we need?" Sasuke asked.

"Naruto can probably summon over a thousand bunshins," Kaitou said. "But we're not in a contest, so you three will only be using around fifteen. Now get to work." Kaitou turned to Shino and Hinata, "You two have been training in control for a few years, so the best thing for you to do now is increase your reserves, which is exactly what this exercise can do, you both will make as many kage bunshin as possible to wear yourselves out, that's when your reserves will increase." He turned to Sakura and said, "You're coming with me, I'm going to be giving you some private training to help figure something out."

Kaitou and Sakura walked off as everyone else summoned their bunshins.

Kaitou picked up the tree he cut down earlier and continued walking.

"What do you think their training will be about?" Naruto asked.

"I doubt it'll be anything too much for her to handle," Sasuke said as he kept going upwards only to make a mark in the tree with too much and jump back down with his bunshins doing the same.

With Kaitou and Sakura...

Kaitou brought Sakura to a clearing where he could move freely with the tree he was carrying.

"So how exactly are we going to be training?" Sakura asked.

Kaitou swung the tree in her direction.

Sakura, too scared to even scream, froze up completely, eyes shut. There was a familiar feeling that passed through her as she just stood there.

"Very interesting," Kaitou commented as he set the tree down.

Sakura, now over her shock and fear started yelling at Kaitou, "What was that all about!?"

"You have a very unique ability," Kaitou said to her. "It could very well be the manifestation of an exceptionally useful kekkei genkai."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, clearly confused about what he was talking about. As far as she was concerned, the only thing that she really had going for her were her book smarts and exceptional chakra control.

"I've traveled for fourteen years straight and studied up many generations of shinobi, and many kekkei genkai, and not once have I come across or read of a person with the ability to pass through solid objects," Kaitou explained to her. "I noticed this when Zabuza was going to slice you in two, it wasn't until the second attempt that an alarm went through my head. And this little test was all I needed for final confirmation."

"And what would have happened if the tree didn't move through me?" Sakura asked rhetorically, furious with his methods.

"You would have only been knocked in the air about twenty feet," Kaitou answered with a smirk. "Do you honestly think I going to put someone's life on the line testing a theory?"

"I don't know you very well, you just might," Sakura said to him, though Kaitou saw a glint of mischief in her eyes.

"I think we need to figure out how to properly control this ability because obviously your body knew how to do this instinctively," Kaitou said to her. "Don't you just love foresight?" he asked cryptically.

"Huh?" was Sakura's intelligent response.

"Kage bunshin," Kaitou said to her.

Noon at Tazuna's house...

Kaitou was eating with the Kakashi as he spoke with him about his discovery.

"Okay then," Kakashi said to Kaitou. "I'm inclined to believe you, but how exactly could a kekkei genkai manifest itself through someone who is a first generation shinobi?"

"Most likely it was due to the incident twelve and a half years ago, during the Kyuubi attack," Kaitou explained his theory. "Chakra exposure itself doesn't really affect an average person, this can also be said about an infant. That being said, the theory itself only specifies human chakra and doesn't include what would happen if someone was expose to youkai chakra, and a massive amount at that, given that Kyuubi no Youkou is the most powerful of all bijuu with a limitless supply of chakra. Now an average civilian would have a hard time taking that kind of power without any real repercussions and a shinobi wouldn't really have many side effects due to extensively chakra training, that being said I don't think there has ever been a case where an infant was exposed to any amount of youkai chakra save for jinchuuriki themselves. Sakura was nearly seven months old when the Kyuubi attacked, and his chakra seeped everywhere, including into the village's civilian districts. Massive exposure to youkai chakra, no matter brief it is, can cause genetic altercation or mutations in civilians, resulting in a kekkei genkai appearing, especially within a child whose chakra coils haven't nearly begun to develop yet. Perhaps a small child lay in a crib with the window open during that time."

"Okay, now I'm even more inclined to believe you after that informal explanation," Kakashi admitted to him. "How far in the near future do you think Sakura could use that ability in battle?"

"Too soon to say," Kaitou admitted to the scarecrow. "I'll tell you this much, as far as I can see, mastery of this ability could very well lead to serious problems for enemies, because I doubt there would be many ways to counter, if any at all."

"Well, let's see if we can get her to better control her ability," Kakashi said to him.

"Already far ahead of you in this case," Kaitou told him as took a bite out of an apple. He swallowed and said, "She can make up to about twenty kage bunshin so I get her to use half of that. And I train her through the physical aspects of being a shinobi. She's just started so I can't really expect much until a few weeks pass."

"Just how far are you going to push her?" Kakashi asked him.

"What ensures that a tree stands firmly in a massive hurricane?" Kaitou asked cryptically.

"Solid ground and firm roots, basically a good foundation, similar to a sturdy castle," Kakashi answered. "But that's only if the person taking care of the foundation knows what he's doing," he finished after a thought.

"Exacly," Kaitou told him. "I'm going to give those seedlings a foundation to grow off of and the nurturing to make them into magnificent trees."

"I feel like you're taking my students away," Kakashi admitted. "And a team finally passed my test."

"The bell test?" Kaitou asked.

Kakashi nodded.

"Don't worry about your students, you'll be with them," Kaitou told him. "You've been slacking off too much, and you're starting to wither."

"I'm not a tree," Kakashi told him bluntly.

"The metaphor still remains accurate," Kaitou told him. "You probably can't climb up a cliff one-handed with ease."

"I wouldn't know, I haven't done something like that in a while," Kakashi admitted.

"Which is why I'm going to be working you harder than Gai does to himself," Kaitou told him with a mischievous grin.

Kakashi just groaned.

Back in the Forest...

Kaitou was standing next to the three genin. "Well, let's see your progress," he told Naruto, Sasuke and Kiba.

The three nodded and started running up the tree. They made it about ninety percent of the way before they had to jump back down.

"Very nice," Kaitou commented. "Make your bunshins and keep them at it while you are going to work under me," he said.

The three did as they were told.

Kaitou motioned for them to follow. He pulled out a few scrolls while he was walking. As they reached the clearing he opened the scrolls and six jackets appeared. He threw each of them to the genin and said, "Put these on."

They caught them only to fall over as the jackets fell to the ground.

"How much do these things weigh?" Naruto asked.

"There are forty weights sewn into each jacket and each one weighs about ten kilograms,"

They looked at him like he was crazy.

"And you walk around with this kind of weight on every day!?" Sasuke said.

"Hell no," Kaitou told them. "I wear over fifty times that amount."

Sasuke and Sakura just looked at him and then Naruto while Naruto and Kiba were just staring, all four with their mouthes agape.

"Unless you want flies in there I suggest you close your mouths," Kaitou told them as he pulled out another scroll. He opened this one to reveal six sets of leg weights. "Put these on first, they weigh about thirty kilograms each."

They just nodded and put said weights on. They had a bit of difficulty with the jackets but they managed to get them on none the less.

"Ten push-ups," Kaitou told them. "Only ten for now. We can't have you wearing yourselves out. You still have to get use to basic movement." The instructor made a kage bunshin and walked off.

The bunshin simply kept his eye on the genin.

Kaitou himself headed to the local blacksmith.

Later that evening...

Everyone was waiting for the food to be served when Kaitou walked in.

The three genin just looked from Kaitou to the bunshin that was keeping track of them.

Kaitou just threw a kunai at the bunshin and it popped out of existence. Kaitou just received the information, "You six seem to have gotten a good start, in a few weeks you should be able to do seventy push-ups after running a mile within six minutes."

Team seven and Kiba just groaned.

"Why do I only here groans from those I teach? It's not like I had this kind of teaching when I was a genin," Kaitou said.

"That's hard to believe considering you were taught by the sannin Orochimaru," Kakashi commented.

"You have no room to talk considering you should be stronger given the age you acheived your ranks," Kaitou retorted. "That and the fact that Minato was your sensei."

"I may have been considered a genius, but I was still human," Kakashi admitted.

"I'd think you'd have been training a little more seriously, even after mellowing out," Kaitou said with an annoyed look.

After hearing about Kakashi's previous accomplishments the rest of team seven were looking at their assigned jounin sensei in surprise and a little more respect.

Tsunami walked in with the food and everyone started to eat.

* * *

End of Chapter...

I know, not much, but I figure that I could skip a few things, like the description of the training. they've pretty much gotten basic tree climbing down, all they need to do now is do the whole thing with the weights on, and in order to do that they need to be able to move properly first, so they'll need to physically train themselves first. Anyway Read and Review, I like constructive criticism. And I'm thinking of a name for Sakura's bloodline.

And anyone who doesn't know much about weight a kilogram is two metric pounds.


	5. Chapter 4: End of Gatou’s Reign

**The Eye of the Beholder**

January 17, 2010

"Talking"

'Thinking'

_Flashbacks_

**Demons and Higher beings**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, otherwise the pairing would be a great deal more clear.

Chapter 4: End of Gatou's reign

* * *

Four days had passed and the six genin were making some progress.

As Kaitou was instructing them he noticed a feminine figure walking out in a pink attire with a basket in hand. The figure seemed to be gathering herbs.

"Keep on training," Kaitou told them as he walked over to the person. He pulled out a pen and a note pad and wrote something on it. As he approached the person he said, "You may want the right ingredients for that paralysis drug."

The figure jumped up, startled by Kaitou's approach.

Kaitou himself chuckled and ripped out the page from his notepad and held it to the person, "My name is Kaitou, may I have yours?"

"Haku," the feminine person said hesitantly, slowly taking the piece of paper from him.

"Although caution is a good thing, I thought males were suppose to be more reckless," Kaitou commented. "Especially shinobi such as yourself."

Haku's eyes widened as he got into a fighting stance.

"Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions," Kaitou said with his hands in front of him. "It just happens to be a coincidence that we're here."

Haku dropped out of his fighting stance but didn't relax. He looked at the piece of paper that Kaitou handed him and asked, "What is this?"

"That is a list of ingredients and the instructions to properly mix said ingredients for the most effective treatment to counteract my drug," Kaitou told him. "Nothing poisonous, I promise."

"You made that paralysis drug?" Haku asked in complete surprise. He couldn't find any way to counteract said concoction and hadn't even found anything close to this level of complexity in his studies.

"Not only that, but I also made the cure right after I completed it," Kaitou told the false hunter nin. "Can't have people using my own poisons against me and not have a cure."

Haku couldn't help but agree with his statement.

Kaitou reached into his pocket and said, "I'm a bit busy at the moment, so please give this to Zabuza and be sure to read what's in it." He pulled a scroll out of his pocket and handed it to Haku.

Haku was still hesitant about this guy but he took the scroll none the less.

"And at this point in time, if you follow the instructions to the letter, given Zabuza's height, build and overall physical health, he should have full use of his limbs in about a week and a half," Kaitou finished as he walked over to his charges.

Haku could only watch as he walked away. He looked at the scroll in his hand when he noticed with surprise that there were ten sendons positioned in a straight line with the first one only being about half a centimeter away from tip of his foot. What really got him gaping was that his basket was full of the herbs necessary to make the antidote for the drug. Haku then realized that there was no point in suspecting deception, because if Kaitou wanted Zabuza dead, chances are, the man would be as such.

Ten days later...

Everyone stepped out of Tazuna's house to find Haku standing there in full battle attire. Everyone but Kaitou himself got into a fighting position.

Kaitou just waved them off and walked towards the young shinobi.

"Survey says?" Kaitou asked.

"Zabuza-sama has accepted your terms," Haku answered as he removed his mask. "He's waiting for you at the bridge."

Nearly all the genin were freaked because that was the person that Kaitou was talking to several days back.

"Just so you know, I'm a boy," Haku told them as he put his mask away.

That got everyone except Kaitou wide-eyed.

Sakura just couldn't believe that a male could look better than her.

"I can understand their surprise, especially with how you were dressed," Kaitou told Haku. "You really need to find clothing that makes your gender clear, at least then you wouldn't have any problem with guys trying to get your attention."

All the guys just shivered at the thought.

"I'll be staying here," Haku told them. "Gatou is the kind of man that will use some form of leeway to ensure he wins, and a hostage is just that."

"Meaning you also believe what else I mentioned to be true," Kaitou told them.

Haku nodded.

"Well, let's not keep the man waiting," Kaitou told them as he started off in the direction of the construction site for the bridge.

When they got the workers were afraid to approach the area. Zabuza was seated at the edge of the bridge, sword in hand, although his sword looked different from the last time they saw it.

"You sword wasn't black when we fought," Kakashi said to him.

"That was my doing," Kaitou told them as he walked to the nuke-nin. "So how's your sword working for you?"

"Quite nicely," Zabuza said with a cheerful tone, which was completely out of place given who it was and the situation. "The weight remains the same, but the sword's overall strength and sharpness are on a whole other level."

"More than just that," Kaitou told him. "That sword will not let itself break any time soon, and you're the only one who can wield that blade."

"I thought as much," Zabuza responded.

Kaitou pulled out a scroll and opened it, summoning two swords of his own. "We need to pass the time, so how about we test that blade out?" he suggested.

"Why not?" Zabuza answered as he readied himself.

Kaitou twirled his swords expertly in his two hands.

"Sword skills alone," Kaitou set the rules. "No ninjustu or genjutsu, this is pretty much taijutsu on its own. Kakashi, you specify when we start."

"Hai," Kakashi said lazily as he stepped forward.

"You're free to copy my moves, if you can keep your eyes on them," Kaitou told him.

"No thank," Kakashi told him as he raised his hand. He lowered it and shouted, "Hajime!"

The two rushed forward and sparks flew as their blades clashed.

Kaitou was smirking as he struck ten time, every one of them was either deflected or dodged expertly.

Zabuza himself was laughing under his bandages, not even a minute into the fight and he was already enjoying himself. It had been far too long since he had a spar against another swordsman. The former Kiri shinobi knew that Kaitou was being a sport and just messing around, and to be honest, he was glad he could finally fight without worry of death.

After about ten minutes both jumped back. Both breathing heavily.

"You certainly know how to give a good workout," Zabuza admitted to him.

"Same to you," Kaitou responded. He sheithed his swords and sealed them away again. "I can't have my sword breaking due to over stressing, besides, our wait time is over," he finished as he put his scroll away.

Zabuza shrugged and put his sword in the strap.

The two approached where the bridge met the land to see Gatou and his thugs. Gatou was smirking, his arrogance clear, althought his left arm was in a cast.

"And here I thought you would have been able to take care of everyone," the short businessman said. "I guess you're nothing but a baby demon. Not that it makes any difference now that I have a hostage," he laughed at his own joke.

"And who would that be?" Haku asked as he walked up with the two rurouni that he handled back at Tazuna's house. "Because these imbeciles certainly don't look like they would make good hostages."

Gatou looked in shock to see his two most loyal thugs tied up.

"You're not a shinobi," Haku told him. "Unless you can fight us in the same way, don't gloat about how much power you have."

"I agree, you were barely able to keep a hold onto this country," Kaitou told him. "Mind you, I'm the main reason for that."

Tazuna and his four students agreed to that one. Gatou couldn't help but growl an agreement as well.

"And that's why you'll be the first to die," Gatou told him. He shouted, "I'll pay ten times the normal fee if you all can kill the tall blonde one."

They all were about to charge when all of their weapons fell apart.

"Not again," Gatou cried out in irritation.

"Again?" Kakashi and Zabuza asked.

"This happened about three years ago," Kaitou told them.

"Except that he wasn't the one they were targeting last time," Kagura told them.

"That and he was in such a bad mood that Oscar ended up paralyzing Gatou for two months," Rika finished.

"Oscar?" Naruto asked.

"We call him that when he's in a grouchy mood," Nami replied.

"You'd be grouchy after you had just laid down only to have to go and save someone, especially after seven days of non-stop work," Kaitou admitted.

"What do you mean non-stop?" Sasuke asked.

"It means he was up for one hundred sixty-eight hours straight, no sleep whatsoever," Meimi answered.

Team seven just looked at Kaitou.

"What were you doing for seven days, building houses?" Sakura asked in complete disbelief.

"Yes," Kaitou answered simply.

That just earned him another look.

"What?" Kaitou asked.

"You were building houses for seven days straight?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah, and I got all five built in that time as well," Kaitou responded.

Everyone was wondering where he had that kind of will power.

"Please tell me you weren't wearing your coat and weights while you were doing this," Naruto said.

"Why would I lie like that?" Kaitou asked.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto brought his sensei down and whispered into his ear.

Kakashi just looked at Kaitou in disbelief.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" Kaitou asked.

"Because you don't struggle while moving or make a dent while walking."

"It's called control, I used my chakra to ensure that my overall weight doesn't change, I still feel every kilo on my shoulders."

"You have to be fast," Kakashi commented. "Maybe you should try challenging Gai without your weights."

"Why would I want to do that?" Kaitou asked rhetorically.

"Good point," Kakashi agreed. "He'll probably start copying your jacket." Kakashi just stopped and thought for a moment and then said, "On second thought, you should definitely do it then."

Kaitou just looked at Kakashi, "Okay, you just lost me."

Kakashi just put his hand on Kaitou's shoulder, "You'll see what I'm talking about when we get back."

"I WILL NOT BE IGNORED," Gatou shouted.

Kaitou just waved his hand at the fat man, "Shut up, junior and let the parents talk."

And with that, Gatou and his thugs all fell down.

"GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH, NOT AGAIN," Gatou screamed as he lay there, helpless.

"You paralyzed him as well?" Zabuza asked rhetorically.

"That would explain why he has such animosity towards you," Haku commented.

"I imagine that he was unable to move for about two months, especially considering the small dosage he received," Kaitou said as he walked to picked the businessman up. He turned around with Gatou in tow and said, "Alright everyone, show's over."

"Well, now that the contract has been voided we'll need somewhere to stay," Zabuza admitted.

"Tazuna's house is out of the question," Kaitou told him. "Why not just stay where you've been located for the past few weeks, now that Gatou is incapacitated he can't run his empire."

"Very true," Zabuza admitted.

* * *

End of Chapter...

That's it for this, I tried, trust me. Anyway Read and Review.


	6. Chapter 5: The Return

**The Eye of the Beholder**

This chapter carries a little insight on one thing that has caused quite a few problems in Naruto. January 21, 2010

"Talking"

'Thinking'

_Flashbacks_

**Demons and Higher Beings**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, so don't try to sue

Chapter 5: The Return

* * *

Everything ended up going like clockwork without Gatou to interfere, Tazuna and his workers finished the bridge in a few days and Kaitou gave Tazuna a contract.

Everyone was standing at the completed bridge.

"How many?" Tazuna asked.

"Ten to fifteen should be a good starting number," Kaitou told him. "My standards are a great deal higher than normal shinobi so you'll be seeing a serious difference in ability."

Tazuna only nodded.

A carriage pulled up and a bunch of children, Inari included, climbed in. Kaitou climbed into the front seat and told the man, "I can take it from here."

"I take it they're going to the village for training?" Kakashi asked.

"Exactly," Kaitou replied. He looked into the carriage and asked, "Are you all comfortable back there?"

"Hai," they all replied.

"Well, let's get moving," Kaitou said as he snapped the reigns. "HIYA."

As the carriage cleared the bridge one of the villagers asked, "So what are we gonna name the bridge?"

"Good question," Kaiza commented.

"I've got it," Tazuna said. "We'll name it after the man that kept this country safe for the most part, improved our economy, taught everyone methods for independent sustenance and improved our work force. Gatou had no way to compare with this guy. And he did all of this without even distributing one weapon to the town."

"He told me that he did this in the memory of his late brother, Naruto's father," Kaiza mentioned. "Perhaps we should take those two into account when naming."

"What do you mean?" Tsunami asked.

"No one else had noticed because they didn't spend nearly as much time with him, but Kaitou always had this forced smile, like he was in constant pain, so much so that it almost hurt to look at for those who would take notice. Probably the only others who noticed were his students. But when Naruto came around, it was like a burden was lifted off of his shoulders," Kaiza answered.

"Now that you mention it, Kaitou did have a bit more spring in his step," Tazuna thought aloud. "He also talked more, when he first came here, he usually kept to himself until he saw something he knew wasn't right, and so he not only corrected it he made sure that the person who made the mistake knew every detail to ensure that the mistake wouldn't be repeated. His attitude improved when you two met, but it was nowhere near as good as it was now."

Tazuna then said, "Then it's settled, from now on, this will be known as the 'Great Namikaze Bridge'."

Everyon cheered.

With the carriage...

"Oi, Kaitou-ji," Naruto said, climbing beside him.

"What is it, Naruto?" Kaitou asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

"What happened to Gatou?"

The children all tensed at the name.

"A group of that jounin I called for came and picked him up about a day ago," Kakashi answered, walking alongside the carriage. "He'll be imprisoned until he goes on trial in the next few weeks. He's on his way to the Daimyo's palace as we speak."

"Good to hear," Naruto responded.

It took them nearly a full day to get back to Konoha, rest stops, lunch breaks and all.

As they reached the gate the two on guard held their hands up.

"We need to see the paperwork allowing you to enter," one said, this one had a bored look with his bandanna like hitae-ate backwards and a sendon in his mouth.

Kaitou started searching through his coat, trying to figure out wear he left the document. He pulled out scroll after scroll from his pockets. The pile he made was taller than Naruto as he emptied them all. When Kaitou finally had all of his pockets emptied of scroll he thought for a moment and then snapped his fingers. He pulled out his hitae-ate, bit his thumb and swiped a bit of blood onto the seal on the back of it. In a poof a few documents came into existance.

The children watched in awe while everyone else just sweat dropped.

Kaitou responded with a shrug, "What? I haven't had these documents out in nearly eight years." He handed said paperwork to the gate guards. He then proceeded to refill his pockets with their previous contents, now scattered on the ground.

As he looked over the papers and the signature, he said, "I can't confirm if this signature is legitimate."

"Genma, you really should have studied up a bit more," Kakashi said as he looked at the signature. "I'll vouch for him, this is the signature of the Yondaime Hokage. As his student I had to be able to identify his signature."

Genma nodded and allowed them to pass.

"First order of business, to the Hokage's office," Kaitou said as he directed the horses to the Hokage Tower.

They stopped the cart and the children climbed out.

Kaitou unhooked the horses and tied them to a post. He put a bag of feed on their mouths. He then took out a scroll, opened it, bit his thumb again and swiped the blood on the open scroll and the cart was sealed into the scroll.

"I wasn't aware you could seal something that big," Sasuke said in surprise.

"Neither was I," Kakashi admitted.

When they entered the office the Hokage was swamped with papers around him.

'Oh the nightmares of the Hokage,' Kaitou thought as he stepped in, the hood of his cloak was up so his features were hidden.

Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, looked at the group with Iruka at his side.

"Team 7 and Team 8 reporting a complete success of the mission," Kakashi stated as he stood at attention.

"Very good, Kakashi, Kurenai," Hiruzen stated, he looked at the seven cloaked figures. "Now who exactly are your guests."

Zabuza, who was wearing a cloak along with Haku lowered the hood of his and took one knee, "Momochi Zabuza, Kiri no Oni, requesting sanctuary in Konohagakure no Sato."

Haku followed suit in kneeling, "Momochi Haku, adopted son and apprentice to Momochi Zabuza requesting the same."

"I'll have to talk to the council, but I don't see any problem with allowing your request," Hiruzen told them. "Until further notice, you two are under temporary protection of the Hokage whilst in this village and will stay within the walls of the village."

The two nodded, rose and stepped out of the way.

"Now why are all these children here?" Hiruzen asked.

"It's my turn, Hiruzen," Kaitou said as he lowered his hood.

"I wasn't expecting you," Hiruzen admitted with a straight face.

Kaitou handed the contract he had Tazuna sign. "This contract has been approved and signed by all of the legal guardians of these children from Nami no Kuni to be allowed enrolled into the Konoha Shinobi Academy. With this approval, Nami no Kuni will be able to create a shinobi village of their own and will carry a peace treaty with Konoha. This way trade routes will be much safer."

Hiruzen nodded and signed the contract, giving full acceptance to the children's enrollment. "My grandson is about to enter the academy, maybe he can make a few friends," he said as he placed the contract aside.

"Sasuke, do you mind taking them in at your house?" Kaitou asked.

"Not really, it might actually liven up the place a bit," Sasuke answered as he motioned for the children to follow him.

Naruto and Sakura followed to ensure that Sasuke didn't hurt any of them. Zabuza, Haku and Kakashi followed to ensure that none of the children hurt his team.

Now that Kaitou alone was standing in front of the Hiruzen the air in the room got serious. "Iruka, please leave the room."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Iruka said as he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Kaitou walked to the door and did a few hand seals, he placed his hand on the door and his chakra flickered for a bit until a seal appeared on the door. He then pulled up a chair and sat down.

"How much did you tell Naruto?" Hiruzen asked.

"Nearly everything," Kaitou answered. "He knows of his heritage on his father's side, but almost nothing of his mother's, that's to say he only knows a little less about her than me."

"Fair enough," Hiruzen admitted.

"Sasuke knows the truth about Itachi," Kaitou told him. "Needless to say, I'm far from satisfied that you were prodded into that decision."

"I wasn't happy with the decision myself, but action needed to be taken," Hiruzen admitted.

Kaitou reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, "Itachi told me that this symbol was on Uchiha Shisui when he killed him." He handed it to Hiruzen.

Hiruzen took the paper and opened it. What he saw would have made him have a heart attack a few decades ago.

"My main guess as to the seal's creator is only ninety percent, care to remove my doubts?" Kaitou said to him.

"This is a cursed seal," Hiruzen told him. "Orochimaru created it to bring out the hidden potential of shinobi, unfortunately it brings out violent, even insane tendencies and gives the bearer a serious thirst for blood."

"I'll have to tell Itachi," Kaitou said to him. "Sasuke's a given. Although there is something strange about this seal."

"What do you mean?" Hiruzen asked.

"A seal cannot be evil on its own, if that were the case then the people could call a kunai evil if it had been used for such deeds, it's just a tool," Kaitou thought aloud.

"So you're saying that the seal in itself might not actually be a curse seal at all," Hiruzen concluded.

"It's only speculation, I'll need a blood sample of someone who carries the seal," Kaitou said.

"Consider it done," Hiruzen said with a sigh of relief. That relief was short lived as he felt a tremendous pressure on him. If Hiruzen thought Kaitou's attitude was serious, then he doesn't know what the pressure he felt was.

"I'll have an audience with your advisors A.S.A.P., and you'll be present," Kaitou told him.

Hiruzen didn't fail to catch the unspoken 'or else' in his voice and knew that it was not to be take lightly.

"And please make sure that Danzou arrives alone," Kaitou said as he opened the door and dispelled the barrier at the same time.

"Where's my pipe?" Hiruzen said as he felt that this is going to cause a lot of stress.

Kaitou walked out of the office and saw a shinobi against the wall, he snapped his fingers a few times, and checked his pulse. "I guess I used too much power." He took out his notepad, wrote something down folded it and put in the shinobi's hand.

He walked away as the shinobi was stirring awake.

When he walked out of the Hokage Tower he saw everyone but Kakashi waiting for him.

Kaitou turned toward Sasuke. "How about you show them where they'll be staying."

"Hai," Sasuke said as he directed everyone to the Uchiha district.

Kaitou stopped Naruto and Sakura at the entrance.

"We'll let Sasuke handle this," Kaitou told them.

The two nodded and headed home. Kaitou walked alongside Naruto.

"I'll be staying with you until we can get the compound out of moth balls and disrepair."

Naruto only nodded as he directed Kaitou to his apartment.

When they arrived Kaitou's first words were, "What a ramshackle apartment building, who the hell would allow anyone to live in this place."

"It was the only place I could stay," Naruto admitted. "Everyone else would either not allow me or make the rent too high."

Kaitou started moving his fingers in an odd motion.

'Oooooh, I'm going to have a field day with those assholes,' Kaitou thought to himself as he climbed the steps.

The Uchiha district...

"There're are plenty of areas for everyone to stay," Sasuke told them as they entered the area. "However, no one is to stay in the main house unless they have my direct permission."

"Hai," the children responded.

"That goes for you two as well," Sasuke said to Zabuza and Haku.

They nodded.

"Now, it shouldn't be that bad, all things considered," Sasuke told them. "You're going to have to clean up the rooms you're staying in. Think of this as a D-rank mission."

"You expect us to pretend this is a mission?" Inari asked.

"You wanna try me, I've had to walk dogs as a mission," Sasuke responded.

The children looked at Zabuza and Haku, and sadly they confirmed that Sasuke was speaking the truth.

"Unfortunately, during times of peace, different villages have genin doing remedial tasks that really have nothing to do with being a shinobi and list them as mission, that's why their considered D-rank. It isn't until you're eligible for C-rank missions that you have even a remote chance of being any form of fighting, they're only given to experienced genin and chuunin."

"Well, let's get everyone settled in," Sasuke told them.

The day ended uneventful, but everyone seemed to be thinking that something big is about to happen within the next few weeks.

* * *

End of Chapter...

No, I'm not going to make the Chuunin Exam immediate, I'll wait for a few chapters. Everyone needs more experience before I jump the gun. Kaitou will be speaking to Hiruzen's advisors; there will be hell to pay. Anyway Read and Review please.


	7. Chapter 6: Training and Payback

**The Eye of the Beholder**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

_Flashbacks_

**Demons and Higher beings**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I'm broke, so I couldn't own it.

Chapter 6: Training and Payback

* * *

Kaitou woke up with an aching back, 'He really needs a better sofa.' He yawned and saw his students all sprawled out on the floor. Kaitou reached into his pocket and pulled out a whistle, which he blew into, hard.

The first thing the females did was glare at Kaitou.

"You know the drill, while living under the same roof as me you will be doing early morning physical training," Kaitou told them. He stood up and walked into Naruto's room.

The four heard the whistle and then...

"YAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!," Naruto's screamed out.

Kaitou stuck his pinky in his ear. "You sure you weren't loud enough?" he questioned sarcastically. "Get some training clothes on, we're going to be doing some heavy stuff. All physical."

"Ah," Naruto said lazily as he laid back down.

Kaitou blew his whistle again.

Thirty minutes later...

"First thing's first," Kaitou spoke to team 7 as he left a Kage bunshin to ensure that his four students were working. "We're going to see what your flexibility is like." Kaitou then moved their arms, and got all the information he needed. "You three really need to work on your stretching," he said, bluntly. "It's a good thing you're still young, it should take me a few days to get you to the standard I need you, that being said within the next few years you should focus on increasing your flexibility while I train you in taijutsu, but first," Kaitou created two more Kage bunshins, said bunshins pointed to Sasuke and Sakura each, indicating that they should follow.

Both nodded and followed in different directions.

Kaitou himself lifted his left foot and stomped it on the ground, causing a mini earthquake. Another Kaitou stepped into the clearing with a shinobi with a porcelain mask on his face tied up on Kaitou's back.

"And who is that?" Naruto asked, curious as to his reason for restraining this person.

"This, Naruto, is a ROOT shinobi, a specific type of anbu that only takes orders directly from Hiruzen's adviser, Danzo," Kaitou told him."The ass believes that _he_ should be Hokage because he thinks that all of the others have put peace before the village's best interests. What he doesn't realize is that peace is the village's best interest, because we do not rule, neither are we royalty, in this village which one do you think allows a village to prosper most, war or peace."

"I would say peace, because in times of peace, people are less likely to die at a young age and therefore shinobi can have more training and experience allowing to increase the overall fighting potential of said village if war does occur, while during war, more people, shinobi and civilian alike, die younger, especially at genin rank," Naruto replied.

"Very good," Kaitou admitted. "I've been monitoring Danzo's activities for some time and I can honestly say that he believes that the ends justifies the means. I can't prove anything currently, which is why I've called a meeting with Hiruzen and his advisors. I have a few terms that I need to set up."

"There shouldn't be a problem as long as what you're doing isn't illegal," Naruto said with a shrug. "I already have enough problems with the villagers as is, I don't need people believing me to be a potential traitor."

"Then there shouldn't be a problem," Kaitou answered.

Hokage Tower, 11:30 am...

Kaitou was standing before Hiruzen, an old man with short, spikey gray hair and glasses, an old woman with her hair in a bun and a squint in her eyes and an old man with black hair that he was losing, his right arm in a sling, bandages over his right eye and his right leg.

"I suppose you are the one who called for this meeting," the one with glasses said.

"Indeed, Homura-san, one thing I would like to bring to Hokage-sama's attention is that I'd found an anbu spying on me while I was training a few genin, and some who weren't even registered as shinobi yet," Kaitou informed. "If I'm not mistaken this goes against one of the laws brought into existance by Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama himself, about trespassing and obstruction of privacy without proper authorization or explanation."

"That law only applies to areas that are excusively owned by clans or families," the bandaged one specified.

"You certainly answered that quickly, Danzo, especially considering it was one of your anbu that did it," Kaitou told the man, now revealed as Danzo. "And a little something you should know is that the area that I was supervising the training in is exclusively owned."

"There has been no owner of that land since Yondaime Hokage died, because the deed had not been accounted for since then," Danzo replied.

"So the anbu was on your orders," Kaitou said as he pulled a scroll out. He unrolled it and bit his thumb, he swiped some of his blood on the seal as he applied his chakra to bring out a document, which he gave to Hiruzen. "This is the deed to the land the training ground I was using is on."

"And how exactly did you obtain this document?" Hiruzen asked.

"This document has been in my possession since I left Konoha over fourteen years ago, Minato said I should be the one to hold it in the circumstances of something happening to him," Kaitou explained.

"Okay, I'll admit to giving these orders, but I was not aware of the land being private property," Danzo gave in, knowing he was beaten in this situation.

"Ignorance is no excuse, and proper punishment will be dealt accordingly," Kaitou said with a glare.

"I take it this isn't the only reason why this meeting is in action," the woman finally spoke.

"Very good, Koharu-san, it seems age and experience brings out some of the best of some people," Kaitou commented. "To put it bluntly I have some conditions that, if not met, I will reveal the truth behind the Uchiha massacre."

"What are these conditions?" Hiruzen asked quickly, before the others asked how he found out this information in the first place.

"All teachers in the academy will be placed under my direct tutelage, that being said the academy itself will be placed under my complete supervision," Kaitou told them.

"That doesn't seem unreasonable," Hiruzen thought aloud. "Are there any other condition you have?"

"This is my final condition, Danzo will undergo a full and thorough investigation under the suspicion of high treason," Kaitou spoke with full conviction.

"Preposterous," Danzo told them. "I have done nothing against Konoha's best interest."

"Then you'll have no problem with this investigation," Kaitou told him. "If you have nothing to hide, then prove it."

Danzo said nothing else as he nodded.

"It is agreed then," Hiruzen said.

"It isn't finished until there is proper documentation to prove as such," Kaitou told him as he pulled another scroll out. He did the previous actions and a contract appeared. "Read and sign, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen read over the contract carefully and handed it to Homura who read the contents, he then handed it to Koharu. All of this was closely observed by Kaitou. The aged Hokage and his teammates nodded in aproval of the contract and Hiruzen signed.

"That's all for me," Kaitou told them as he walked to the door. Before he opened the door he looked at Danzo and everyone but Danzo himself was sweating at the pressure Kaitou was emitting, Danzo wasn't sweating because he was sheet white at the glare Kaitou was giving him. "ROOT will not interfere with this investigation, and the only investigation team that will be used will be ones that have _my_ approval." And just like that, the atmosphere was calm again as Kaitou exited the room.

A Dango shop...

"You know, Kurenai, I hope the chuunin candidates this time around having the guts needed," a woman with violet colored hair, a tan jacket that went to her knees, an orange skirt with a fishnet mesh beneath beneth it all while wearing a set of shin guards. She bit off a Dango from the stick she was holding.

"I'm recommending my team for the exams, Anko, and I'm not expecting you to go easy on them," Kurenai said to her long time friend.

"I couldn't even if I wanted to, it's all about the participants," Anko told her as she took another bite.

"And I would expect nothing less," a voice said behind her.

Anko took a drink of tea before she looked only to spit the mouthful into Kaitou's face, "When did you get back?"

Kaitou took a few napkins and wiped his face off before answering, "Yesterday, and I would appreciate it if you didn't spit take on me."

"Gomen, but you haven't been in Konoha nearly fifteen years and now you just show up out of the blue, I'm pretty sure anyone else would be surprised," Anko retorted as she looked to Kurenai, hoping for an agreement.

Kurenai herself just held her hands up, keeping herself from taking sides. "I plead the fifth," she said.

"I would too," Kaitou retorted. He whispered something into Anko's ear.

Anko's gaze darkened as she asked, "Why?"

"Because I need to research and figure it out, through this, removal might be possible," Kaitou explained.

Anko nodded and lowered her jacket, revealing a seal just at her collar bone.

Kaitou put his hand on it and ran some of his chakra through it. He smiled as he said, "Very interesting, I might be able to fix this seal after all."

"What do you mean?" Anko asked.

"I'll give you my answers as soon as I have a blood sample, with that I might be able to replicate it and perhaps be able to remove it completely," Kaitou told her. The look in his eyes nearly scared Kurenai, who hadn't witnessed this side of him before.

Anko nodded in acknowledgement as she groaned, remembering how crazy this guy can get when given a potential research project.

Two days later...

Kaitou walked to the training ground with something slung over his shoulder. When the six genin and the other four females looked closer they saw that what was slung over his shoulder was actually an unconscious old man with long, spikey white hair. He wore mostly red, including two red stripes going down his cheeks and the hitai-ate he had on had the kanji for oil on it.

"Everyone, say hello to my new assistant in training you," Kaitou told them.

Naruto, just for the sake of being smart said, "Hi there, new assistant."

Everyone but Kaitou chuckled.

Kaitou pulled out his whistle and motioned for everyone to cover their ears efficiently. He blew and they could hear it clearly, even with their ears covers, now glad they had followed his instructions. The effect was almost instantaneous as the old man got up screaming and looked at Kaitou.

"What are you doing, gaki, are you trying to make me go deaf?" the old man complained.

"I had to test if you already were as such given how often you kept pursuing your teammate even after she rejected over and over again," Kaitou told him.

"How did you even know I was here?" the old man asked.

"Who do you think coaxed Hiruzen to send for you? After that all I had to do was check at the onsen regularly," Kaitou replied.

"Why would you find this guy at the onsen?" Sasuke asked.

"He was peeking at the women," Kaitou answered.

This really got Sasuke questioning Kaitou's judgment if he chose this peeping tom to assist in their training.

"How exactly will this pervert help our training?" Kiba asked.

"I'll have you know, I'm no pervert," the old man told them. "I'm a super pervert."

Everyone but Kaitou sweat dropped as they all thought the same thing, 'He openly admitted it?'

"So what kind of training can an Ero-sennin like you hope to help us in, stealth?" Naruto asked. "Before you ask, your clothes say that you aren't a civilian or even a normal shinobi, they aren't something you can just get tailored anywhere so my first thought is you're probably along the lines of a hermit or sage."

"Good deduction," Kaitou said with a smirk.

"You still haven't answered my question, Ero-sennin," Naruto said.

"Naruto, show some respect to your elders," the old man said. He then moved himself into a pose as he spoke out, "I am the great Gama Sennin, Jiraiya-sama."

Everyone but Kaitou looked in surprise while Kaitou himself looked in annoyance at Jiraiya's ridiculous stance.

The genin looked at Kaitou to be sure and he nodded, confirming Jiraiya's identity.

"You really love attention, don't you," Kaitou commented. "Do you have to strike that pose every time you introduce yourself?"

"The pose emphasizes my introduction and shows my greatness," Jiraiya spoke his opinion.

"If you ask me, it makes you look more like an idiot," Naruto told him.

"This from a guy who practically has a target painted on him with that shade of orange," the hermit replied.

"It was the only thing that any of the stores I went to allowed me to purchase," Naruto told him. "I may like the color but I'm not stupid enough to think that wearing bright orange in any environment save for the desert would keep me from being noticed."

Kaitou's fingers started moving in an odd motion. Then he thought of something, "Naruto, remember the guy I mentioned back at Tazuna's house?"

"Sure, you mentioned that he was probably peeking at an onsen while... we... spoke," Naruto paused.

Kaitou smirked as he saw the realization on Naruto's face and pointed at Jiraiya.

Naruto summoned several Kage Bunshin and all of them started to approach the Gama Sennin with murder in their eyes.

"Retaliate in any way shape or form and I'll bring your team mate back with a few choice words," Kaitou said with a smirk.

Jiraiya was starting to sweat, "What do you know?"

"Enough, I'm not an avid reader of your material, but that doesn't mean that I haven't read your novels and I know familiar descriptions when I see them," Kaitou said to him.

Jiraiya was now sweating a stream down his skin as Naruto approached.

Fifteen minutes later Kaitou and a newly healed Jiraiya were standing in front of the genin.

"What exactly are we going to be doing as far as training goes?"

"Physical conditioning mostly," Kaitou told them. "We need to increase your reserves as well, for most of you anyway. Naruto, you will be focusing of increasing your control to the point where you can walk up a waterfall without even trying."

Kaitou made a one hand seal and several Kage Bunshin appeared.

"So you're going to be focusing on their physical conditioning while I help Naruto out?" Jiraiya asked.

"Nope, your are," Kaitou told him. "Everyone save for Naruto, make two Kage Bunshin each. Naruto, you make fifty."

They all nodded and did so.

"You taught them all how to make a Kage Bunshin?" Jiraiya asked.

"Nope, he did," Kaitou said, pointing to Naruto. "And they're only going to do the bare miminum until their reserves are higher." He pulled out one of Naruto's bunshin and picked out one bunshin for each Genin. He then brought one of his own bunshin and told him, "Get to work."

The bunshin nodded and walked away, the group followed.

Kaitou then grabbed Sasuke's shoulder and pulled him out. "Before we work on your conditioning, I'm going to help you with something. Everyone else, start working."

At the end of the day Sasuke walked towards the group with sweat all over his skin and disheveled hair, his sweat-soaked shirt torn up with several small cuts and blood caked off of said cuts yet what was odd was there was no indication of any scars showing, he was seriously panting from his ordeal. But despite his condition he had a proud smile on his face.

Naruto just looked at him and said, "What happened, Teme? You look like hell."

"I feel like hell," was Sasuke's only response.

"Then why are you smiling?" Naruto asked

"You'll find out later," Sasuke said, sticking to the greatest weapon a shinobi could have, keeping things unknown.

Naruto just shrugged, Sasuke would tell him when he chose to, no sooner.

* * *

End of Chapter...

Took me a while to figure out a good way to get this chapter going. Everyone is going to be doing a bit of training before the Chuunin exams, I might pull in Team 10 while I'm at it, Team Gai will be excluded until they meet at the exams. And the thing with Naruto accepting Sasuke's secrecy is simple, Naruto has secrets of his own, it would be hypocritical of him to demand to know Sasuke's. Anyway R&R.


	8. Chapter 7: Elements

**The Eye of the Beholder**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

_Flashbacks_

**Demons and Higher beings**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter 7: Elements

* * *

The next day Kaitou pulled out a few pieces of paper and was about to explain things when he was interrupted.

Sasuke's eye twitched when he felt a sudden weight was upon his shoulders and a rubbing on his right cheek.

"Sasuke-kun," squeeled the weight him Sasuke's shoulders. Said weight was a pale-blonde, blue-eyed girl wearing a violet top and skirt with bandages around her waist and thighs for modesty. Her hitae-ate was around her waist and her hair was in a ponytail. "I missed you."

"Ino, get off of him," Sakura told her.

"You're just jealous, you want to be in my position," the girl, now known as Ino, told her as she stuck her tongue out and pulled her eyelid.

"No, I mean get off before you hurt him, he can't take your weight at the moment," Sakura told her.

"Are you saying I'm fat?!" Ino demanded, sliding off of Sasuke's. She was now an inch from Sakura's face with a glare on hers.

"She's making no indication of you being overweight," Shino told her. "It's just that the coats all of us are wearing are weighted heavily and adding your weight to any of us while we're wearing said training equipment would cause more strain than we can take given the training regiment we are currently undergoing."

"Huh?" was Ino's only response. She was also surprised at how much Shino said.

"Mendokuse, Ino, they're saying that with your weight and those jackets on, it's too much for any of them to handle," said a boy with his hair pulled back in a ponytail, making his head resemble a pineapple. He was wearing a small jacket with a fish net mesh underneath, a pair of shorts and his hitae-ate on his left arm. "I wouldn't be surprised if those jackets weigh more than you."

"They do, Shikamaru," Naruto replied to the boy's comment with a snicker.

A man who looked to be in his late twenties walked up with an embarrassed look on his face. The man had a standard jounin attire, a beard on his chin, a cigarette in his teeth and his hitae-ate in it standard position on his forehead.

"Good to see you, Asuma-san," Kaitou said to the jounin.

"The feeling is mutual, oyaji told me that you were back," Asuma responded and looked down at the girl he pulled off of Sasuke. "Sorry about Ino. She saw Sasuke and just rushed."

"It's no problem, actually you being here helps with the demonstration I was about to perform alongside my assistants," Kaitou told him as a light brown haired boy holding a bag of potato chips and his hitae-ate also on his forehead approached the group. The cloth from said hitae-ate went through the center of his hair, effectively splitting it in two and making said cloth look like a pair of panties. In comparison to everyone else, the boy was certainly bigger than everyone else around his main body.

Asuma looked around and noticed Kakashi, Kurenai and, much to his surprise, Jiraiya, standing behind Kaitou.

"Jiraiya-sama, what are you doing here?" Asuma asked.

"Would you believe I was blackmailed into helping oversee their training?" the sannin asked.

"Given how oyaji has described you, I actually would believe that," Asuma replied.

"I wasn't aware that you called him oyaji as well," Naruto commented with a grin.

"He's my father, I'm pretty much given free rights to call him any fatherly term I want," Asuma chuckled.

"What are they talking about?" Kiba asked.

"I'm not sure, the only one I know of that Naruto calls oyaji is..." Sasuke paused and groaned while face-palming for not putting two and two together.

"Why are you groaning like that?" Kiba asked.

"Sarutobi Asuma," was Sasuke's only reply.

Kiba paused a bit himself, and thought. "I still don't get it," he admitted.

"He's referring to the fact that Asuma-sensei is the Hokage's son," Shino told him. "Apparently he didn't figure it out sooner. Though I think the real blow is the fact that Naruto had figured it out before him."

"Actually, this isn't all that surprising," Kakashi told them. "Prior to entering the academy, Hokage-sama would try and do a daily check up on Naruto as well as giving him a weekly allowance to spend on basic necessities. Asuma-san was probably with him during some of those visits."

"Minna, let's all get back on track," Kaitou called out as he held the pieces of paper. He handed a piece to each jounin and two to Jiraiya.

"As everyone here should be aware, there are five base elements in the shinobi world," Kaitou then motioned for the jounin and Jiraiya to use their papers while Kaitou himself did the same.

Kurenai's moistened, Asuma's split in two, Kakashi's crumbled, the one in Jiraiya's right hand caught aflame while the one in his left hand turned to dust and the one is Kaitou's left hand crumbled while the one in his right hand turned to dust.

"These pieces of paper are made from a special tree that has been grown while constantly being fed chakra," Kaitou explained. "As you can see there were five different reactions. Kurenai-san's paper indicates that her elemental specialty is water, Asuma-san's is wind, Kakashi, lightning."

"And what about you and Jiraiya-sama?" Sakura asked. "One of the papers you had indicates you have a lightning affinity, but the other one wasn't specified. Jiraiya-sama's one was the same as you and the other just burned."

"A very astute observation, Sakura," Kaitou told them. "You see, both Jiraiya and myself have a double affinity, in the sennin's case, it's not uncommon given how much experience he's accumulated throughout the years, however with me, I was born with both elemental affinity, with is common in only people with specific types of kekkei genkai. The other affinity that I carry is that of earth, and Jiraiya has the elements of both earth and fire." He held out the papers and said, "Each of you take one per hand."

They did as told and waited for further instruction.

"Before you all use you paper, we'll demonstrate the potency of each element," Kaitou then pulled a kunai out and showed it to the genin, he then walked over to a boulder. He slammed his kunai with a heavy amount of force, breaking said boulder into smaller pieces. He walked over to the genin and showed them the kunai he used. Sakura, Shino and Shikamaru just looked at the kunai with such bewildered expressions.

"What's up?" Naruto asked.

"The kunai is in the same condition as it was before," Shino told them.

Naruto looked surprised from this announcement.

"What's so surprising about that?" Kiba asked.

"Normally, in these circumstances, if you use a kunai or other metal object to strike even a tree you'll find some indication that the object has been used, he just used this on an average size boulder and there isn't even a scratch on it," Sakura explained.

Kaitou smiled at their explanation and told them, "There are two elements of power, earth is the power element of defense, therefore the douton user can strengthen most weapons they use to keep said weapons intact."

Kaitou then put his hands together in the hebi seal and another boulder came up from the ground.

"Kakashi-san," Kaitou said.

Kakashi nodded and put his hands in the saru seal and then pulled a kunai of his own out. He walked to said boulder and stabbed it into the boulder and pulled it out.

"What's so special about that?" Ino asked. "All he did was stab his kunai into the boulder and pull it out."

"Clearly a few of you aren't going to understand without a proper demonstration," Kaitou then spoke to Kakashi. "Hand Sasuke the kunai you just used."

Kakashi nodded and walked over to Sasuke, gave him said kunai and told him to do what he did.

Sasuke nodded and ran over and attempted to stab the kunai into the same boulder, he only was able to hit a very small, piece off of the boulder before the kunai stopped.

Kaitou then explained, "Lightning is the piercing and speed element, specified against those who specialize in defense and, in the elemental equation, dominates over douton types. Now, Asuma-san, if you would please, use a normal kunai."

Asuma nodded with a wave going, "Hai, hai." He pulled on of his kunai out and walked to a tree. He jumped and cut one of the branches off. He brought said branch to Kaitou and asked him to hold it.

Kaitou nodded and grabbed the branch from the jounin.

"Now watch the kunai carefully," Asuma told them as he moved the weapon in a swift motion.

The branch that Kaitou was holding was now cut at the base.

At this point in time the genin shouldn't be surprised given the two previous demonstrations, but most of them are still twelve years old so the surprised looked on most of their faces still happened.

"I'm not a wind type, so why don't you explain Asuma-san," Kaitou told them.

Asuma nodded and explained, "Wind is known as the cutting element, a fuuton user can actually make a blade from pretty much anything they have available, and in the case of bladed weapons themselves, can increase the range of the edge and therefore increase the potency." He then held up the kunai he was using and molded his wind chakra into it to make the longer edge visible to them.

Kaitou nodded with Asuma's explanation as he motioned for Kurenai to demonstrate.

The genjutsu specialist nodded and pulled pulled out a small canteen. She then made the ram seal and the water started moving as she molded her chakra for control.

"Suiton jutsu are probably the most flexible jutsu because of how they work, water moves according to the users will, its cutting ability is actually second only to that of fuuton jutsu and only the most solid defenses can stop it altogether without losing power. Meaning that suiton is beaten by douton in the elemental equation. Now for our final demonstrator," Kaitou explained as motioned to Jiraiya

The sennin nodded and said, "My initial specialty is katon, the other element of power, however katon jutsu are designed with the power of attack." He took one of the previous kunai used and put his hands in the tora seal. He then ran towards a tree and slashed at it with serious ease. "Katon users can increase the deadly potential of weapons they use without many drawbacks, the thing that's useful is what happens when a target is hit by a katon enhanced weapon. Take a looke at the slash I made," he finished.

The genin nodded and saw that there were burn marks where he had slashed. Sakura, Shino and Shikamaru noticed that the cut still seemed to be burning.

"Did anyone notice what is happening to the tree?" Jiraiya asked.

"The cut is still burning into the tree," Sakura replied.

"Exactly, even after several minutes, wounds given by katon enhanced weapons will still continue to burn, not just figuratively either, meaning that the after effects are more like a poison and the only way to stop it is to add the proper antidote, which is what fire is weak against in the elemental equation," Jiraiya explained.

"Kurenai-san?" Kaitou asked.

"Hai," the genjutsu mistress then splashed her water on the cut Jiraiya had made.

"As you can see, fire can be beaten by water, but it also has a strength against wind," Kaitou explained. "Now the elemental equation as far a strengths and weaknesses is incomplete in explanation because of certain aspects of each element, like metal, an element within the earth is capable of drawing lightning to it therefore severely weakening a lightning attack, or even negating it altogether, water can reduce an earth wall to mud or erode a stone wall, if there isn't a high source of water than fire can easily turn water into vapor, winds can make a vacuum that removes the oxygen from the flames and lightning is instantaneous and can move through winds with little trouble." Kaitou paused to let them take in this information. After a bit he continued, "On a side note, what would happen if an unstoppable force meets an immovable object."

All the genin thought for a few minutes and couldn't answer the question.

"This question has baffled many for centuries, in my opinion, the answer is that a clash happens, and the force and the object are both destroyed," Kaitou explained as he put his hands in the hebi seal again. A sizable boulder came from the ground. "Now if Jiraiya will please attack this boulder with a katon jutsu," Kaitou said.

The Gama sennin nodded and went through a set of hand seals ending on the tora seal, "Katon: Endan no jutsu." The attack struck the boulder for a few seconds and then the flames died down and said boulder was melted.

"What he used was the most basic of katon jutsu, and with this kind of situation, the flames represent the unstoppable force while the boulder represents the immovable object. In the end both techniques cancel one another out as the one declaring the attack can keep up the technique as long as he'd like, he has to be able to see the results of using said technique," Kaitou told them. "Kurenai-san, if you will," Kaitou told her, indicating the very hot substance that needs to be cooled at this point in time.

Kurenai nodded and formed a suiton jutsu with the moisture in the air.

"I'll tell you more about some of the more advanced elements at a later date, and when we have a person that can assist with demonstrating. Now all of you mold some of your chakra into both pieces of paper given to you,"

They all nodded and focused.

Both of Ino's papers crumble.

Shikamaru's pieces became wet.

Shino's papers became wet as well.

Kiba's pieces caught a flame.

Sakura's pieces turned to dust.

Hinata's papers were suprising because both split in half.

Sasuke's and Chouji's were more surprising that the others.

The paper in Chouji's left hand ingnited and the one in his right turned to dust.

The paper in Sasuke's right hand ignited as well and the one in his left crumbled.

However, Naruto's was the most surprising. The paper in his left hand did nothing at all while the one in his right hand scattered apart and as they drifted to the ground some were on fire, some were wet, others were crumbled up while the last ones felt to the ground as dust.

"Okay, I've traveled the world completely and not once have I seen this happen," Kaitou thought aloud.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked curiously.

"It seems that your chakra is adept at all five base elements," Kaitou answered. "Some of the pieces were on fire while falling down, and you can see the ashes, some were dust, others are wet while the last pieces are crumbled up."

"But that doesn't specify wind," Kiba commented.

"That is answered by the fact that the pieces are scattered, the paper wouldn't have scattered apart like that if wind wasn't there as well," Kaitou replied.

"Well, at least I can honestly say that is one thing I have on you," Jiraiya said to Kaitou.

"You mean you actually met someone who was affiliated with all five elements?" Kaitou asked.

"Yes, his name was Nagato, he was among three students I had at one point in time, the others were Konan and Yahiko," Jiraiya said with a sad smile.

"What happened to them?" Kaitou asked.

"I hadn't seen them since I stopped training them, the last I had heard they had died in battle during the Third Great Shinobi War," the sannin replied with sadness in his voice.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kaitou bowed his head.

"It's been years, I've had enough time to mourn," Jiraiya answered.

'I wish I was as strong as you,' Kaitou thought as he spoke out to everyone. "Before we start anything, Asuma-san, first, is it alright with you if your team goes through this training, and, if so, how far are they with their chakra control?"

"Actually, I've put them through tree climbing and water walking, so they should be able to handle the basics, and as far as doing the training, you'll just have to ask them," the Sarutobi replied.

"Mendokuse, I'll just go with whatever my team does," was the Shikamaru's lazy response.

"If I can help my team out more with this training then I'm alright with this," Chouji answered.

"I'll do it," was Ino's response, anyone with half a mind could tell why. Being a lightning type she thought she would be working alongside Sasuke. Little did she know that if there were more than one teacher with the same elemental affinity then the students would be divided in half to increase efficiency and giving the teachers an easier time.

"I'll be focusing on the earth aspect of the training so Sakura will be under me for the duration," Kaitou told them. "Now, everyone, split up into the necessary groups, those with double affinities, you choose out of the two, same to you, Naruto," he finished.

Everyone else nodded and Sasuke immediately went to Jiraiya along with Kiba.

Ino pouted as she walked over to Kakashi. Sasuke wasn't going to be training with her.

Sakura and Chouji walked over to Kaitou.

Shino and Shikamaru calmly made their way to Kurenai.

Naruto just shrugged and walked over to Asuma and Hinata, causing said kunoichi to blush.

Kaitou just looked around and thought aloud, "For the most part, this seems pretty evened out." He then told Sakura and Chouji, "Earth is the defensive element, the element of substance, so in order to properly mold the chakra you must be able to make the earth around you move to your whim, through this other douton techniques will be easier to control."

The two nodded as Kaitou picked a small amount of dirt. "The moment you are able to make this dirt condense together into a pebble with your chakra alone is the moment where you will be ready for the next step," he explained as he demonstrated what they needed to do.

With Kakashi and Ino...

"Yamanaka-san, lightning is considered the piercing element because of its speed and capabilities to bypass the majority of defenses," he tried to explain, only to notice that the kunoichi wasn't paying attention.

Ino was just sighing to herself.

Kakashi just sighed himself and moved his hand forward and flicked her in the forehead.

"Wuhh?" was Ino's intelligent response. "Kakashi-sensei, what was that for?"

"Why are you a kunoichi?" was Kakashi's retort. "If you're not gonna pay attention then why did you even bother agreeing to this training?"

"I thought..." Ino started but was interrupted by the masked jounin.

"You thought that you would be working alongside Sasuke because said Uchiha has a few katon jutsu under his belt and would try to learn another element because you thought he had already mastered fire," the scarecrow, the tone in his voice was starting to scare Ino with how serious he was being.

"Ah," was Ino's reply.

Kakashi sighed. "Sasuke is a tad hot-tempered and a little over anxious, but he's not foolish enough to think that he can master another element when he hasn't even mastered the basics to katon jutsu, he understands that just because he knows two or three katon jutsu doesn't mean that he has mastered them completely," Kakashi told her. "He probably also thought that if he were there you'd most likely not pay attention anyway so he decided he might as well get some more practice with what he knows."

Ino only looked down in shame, knowing what he said to be true.

"Sasuke himself mentioned once that he doesn't care about a person's background he only cares about whether or not they take being a shinobi seriously," Kakashi explained to her. "From what I've heard from Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura and Asuma himself is that you've been vying for Sasuke's attention, and from what you've demonstrated today it seems to be true. Sakura had recently started taking this life seriously due to what Sasuke had told her. If you want his attention, prove that you're worth his time and train yourself more, then he might consider you, albeit that is a big might but at least it's a possibility," he finished, hoping he got through to her.

Kakashi saw a few things flash through Ino's eyes before they landed on the one that he wanted to see, conviction.

"If that's what it takes, then that's what will happen," Ino told the scarecrow, complete seriousness in her tone.

Kakashi just eye smiled before saying, "Very good, now pay attention."

Ino nodded.

With Jiraiya, Sasuke and Kiba...

"Well, Uchiha, you've certainly surprised me, I thought for sure that you'd take up the chance to learn another element," Jiraiya commented.

"I know a few katon that the Uchiha are known for, but that doesn't mean that I know how they work, I'd rather practice up on being able to understand how each technique of one element works to be able to control them better than learn another element of which I have no familiarity," Sasuke admitted to the sannin. "Power without control leads only to recklessness and maybe even self-destruction."

Jiraiya just smiled, "Now I'm even more surprised and impressed with you. Whether you have talent or not, I think I might enjoy teaching you." The sannin looked down and saw Akamaru just sitting. He then thought aloud, "I don't think there has ever been a situation where an animal other than summons have demonstrated elemental usage."

Kiba just looked at Akamaru and shrugged, "I've never heard of such a thing,."

Jiraiya produced another piece of paper before asking, "Would he be able to mold chakra into this?"

Kiba shrugged, "He does it well enough when we're doing our combos."

The sannin bent over and held the paper out.

Akamaru took the paper into his mouth after sniffing it for a bit.

"You know the drill," Jiraiya said to the puppy.

"Go on, Akamaru," Kiba told him as he saw that the puppy was nervous.

The paper in Akamaru's mouth caught fire.

"Well that's convenient," Sasuke commented. "Now we have another participant to this exercise."

Jiraiya nodded.

With Kurenai, Shikamaru and Shino...

The genjutsu user pulled out two pieces of cloth. "I figured we'd get one or two water specialists, though I didn't expect them to be you two," she said as she handed the clothes to the genin. "What you'll be doing is trying to gather the moisture from the air into the cloth using only you chakra, as a suiton user, this ability will be very valuable whether in battle or just for basic survival."

The two nodded.

Kurenai thought to herself, 'I was hoping Hinata, but another one of my students is still good, besides, she's in good hands with Asuma.'

With Asuma, Hinata and Naruto...

"Alright, the first thing we'll be doing is cutting leaves with only your chakra," the jounin explained as he pulled one of the leaves from the tree. He demonstrated his abilities as the leaf split in two, right down the center. "Now this isn't as easy as it looks for beginners, I just have a fair amount of experience."

The two nodded at took a leaf from the tree.

"Before you begin, when manipulating wind you've got to imagine separating your chakra in two and rubbing them together, then you have to sharpen the two chakra parts into fine pieces and compress them together, the thinner and sharper the line, the better it is, this allows you to cut even the most difficult of matter," the Sarutobi told them.

Both nodded and Naruto stepped away and created about one hundred kage bunshin. And before he started concentrating he looked at Hinata, smiled and said to her, "Ganbatte, Hinata."

Hinata, not used to being encouraged, and by Naruto no less, did the only thing she could in this situation. She passed out.

* * *

End of Chapter.

I thought of adding Gai to this chapter, but then that would just bring in Lee, and most likely Neji and Tenten would follow soon after and I didn't want them meeting everyone else too soon, besides, Neji might belittle Hinata despite her training. I brought in elemental training because I figured they could use a few more advantages than what initially happened in the manga. The elements I chose for each genin save for Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura I figured would compliment their personalities more than anything and it would be interesting to think up different techniques for everyone else's unique fighting styles and family techniques, save for Naruto and Sakura. Anyway R&R.


	9. Chapter 8: The Chuunin Exam

**The Eye of the Beholder**

For some reason I'm on fire as far as recent chapters goes

I'll be starting to reply to the reviews from this chapter forward as they're informal and say more than stuff like 'Keep Going', no offense intended to Rose Tiger.

_Review Replies_

_Troutman30: Very perceptive, I figured that Hinata could use someone with confidence to spare to make her realize that she's not as weak as she seems, besides, with everyone training in such a group everyone is going to spar one another and I can honestly say that as far as taijutsu goes, Hinata will probably be the most dangerous to face off against, so Kiba and Shino would both be reluctant to fight her, that being said, given that she's more pacifistic in nature, she would most likely hold back, no matter which opponent she was facing. Even then she should still be considered the most dangerous person to spar against in pure taijutsu_

"Talking"

'Thinking'

_Flashbacks_

**Demons and Higher beings**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 8: The Chuunin Exam

* * *

A several weeks have passed, and every one of the genin had been making a fair amount of progress.

Naruto himself had the biggest advantage given that he could make an exponential amount of kage bunshin, therefore he was the one who made the most progress. That being said he only was working on one element at a time, too many things at once can cause a massive overload of information, however, constant information of the same thing can drill it into the person's head, allowing the user to be able to use said element more efficiently.

Kaitou brought in Zabuza to help Naruto out when he had finished the first step. With the combined efforts of Zabuza and Kaitou, they made a waterfall for Naruto to attempt to cut through.

The progress of everyone else was remarkable, despite their lack of assistance that Naruto had with his kage bunshin.

Sasuke could create a flame in each hand and juggle it with little effort. This on its own was most likely no surprise given the fact that he was already familiar with a few katon jutsu, so he knew how to use them, he was just learning how to control them. He had also helped Kiba out by giving him a few pointers.

That on its own was a surprise, but what was really a shock was the fact that Kiba accepted his help. In the end pride did no good if it ended up getting, not only yourself, but your teammates and allies killed.

Kiba himself and Akamaru, given that they had no previous experience in elemental training, were making suprisingly good progress.

Jiraiya deduced that it was probably because he was doing more physical aspects of training rather than studying. The sannin could honestly say that he was proud to be teaching them.

Sakura and Chouji were also progressing at a high pace, currently they were able to condense a handfull of dirt into a small stone and scatter back.

Sakura herself was able to condense her handfull into several small pebbles, proving that her control was exceptional and that she was close to being ready for the next step.

Ino herself was able to make a constant flow of electricity through her body for a good three minutes, which a feat on its own.

Kakashi decided to test the waters with how she could use her lightning chakra through a kunai. His words were, "Until you can do what I have demonstrated and stab a kunai directly into the rock and pull it out with ease, you will be no where near mastering lightning chakra."

Needless to say she couldn't even get her kunai a quarter of the way into the rock.

Shino and Shikamaru were both in the second step of water chakra mastery, although water chakra is considered the easiest to master.

This step consisted of condensing the water into their hands and forming them into different shapes as well as condensing them to several stages of hardness.

The genin had their work cut out for them, but neither gave up.

Hinata's progress was the most remarkable, because she had already finished cutting the leaf and was now focusing on stopping a segment of flowing water that was created for her specifically. The segment of water carried a foot radius so she really had to put a great deal of effort into the exercise.

Despite all of this training, they still kept up the physical routine of training. Meaning that there were three more groans to the mix.

Naruto was walking alongside Sakura just speaking to her, "Before you get the wrong idea, I'm not asking for a date, I just want to eat alongside my team mate and friend."

"Depends, Ichiraku?" Sakura asked.

"Before you refuse on that one, remember Kaitou-ji's explanation," Naruto started.

_Flashback_

"_Now who can tell me which of you nine can last the longest in battle?" Kaitou asked. "Ino?"_

"_Sasuke-kun," was Ino's response._

"_Wrong," was Kaitou's reply. He then pointed out Shino._

"_Chouji-san," the seemingly emotionless shinobi said._

"_Close, but still wrong," Kaitou told him._

"_Then it's gotta be me," Kiba told them with a confident air._

"_Wrong again, and farther from Ino's response," the blonde man replied. "Anyone else."_

"_Naruto," came from what seemed like an unexpected source, Sasuke._

"_Now how about telling me why this is possible, more than just simply training with him," Kaitou told him._

_Sasuke smirked and said simply, __"It's what he eats on a regular basis alongside his training, ramen."_

"_How so?" Kaitou asked in general. "Someone else please." _

"_The high amount of sodium, starch and carbohydrates give the body a heavy amount of energy to burn," came from another unexpected source, Chouji._

"_Very good," Kaitou told them._

"_Wait, so you want us to eat ramen like Naruto?" Kiba asked in surprise._

"_No, eat that much every day can't be good for the average person, I think he means he wants us to have more carbohydrates, sodium and starch in our diets to increase the energy we have for the day," Sakura replied._

"_Very good, I'll give your parents a list of necessary ingredients that I approve of, I'll specify what should be eaten every day, can be eaten once a week and what should be limited on a heavy amount of ingestion," Kaitou told them._

_End of Flashback_

"You don't eat ramen every day so once in a while should be okay," Naruto told her.

"Why not, we were given the day off anyway," Sakura told him as they started walking. They weren't wearing their weights to allow their muscles to rest properly.

As they were walking they noticed a box-shaped "rock" with eye holes following them.

Naruto turned around and said, "Konohamaru, rocks aren't in the shape of boxes, and they don't have eye holes either."

And with no suprise, the "rock" exploded in smoke and four coughs were heard.

"You used too much in the smoke bomb," the one in front said. He was wearing a set of goggles on his forehead with his dark brown hair spiking upward and a scarf that was dragging on the ground.

"Gomen," another male with glasses and a runny nose, also wearing a pair of goggles on his forehead.

"Okay, Konohamaru I know," Naruto said indicating the one wearing the scarf. Naruto looked carefully and said, "Inari, apparently you made friends with the young Sarutobi." He then looked at the boy with glasses and a girl with red hair in two pigtails also wearing a pair of goggles on her forehead, "Aren't you two each a grandchild of one of the Hokage's advisors?"

"Hai, I'm Mitokado Udon," the one with glasses responded.

"And I'm Inoue Moegi, Koharu is my obaa-chan," the girl said.

"Well at least they did try to strike a rediculous pose like Ero-sennin," Naruto thought aloud.

"Ah," Sakura agreed.

"Oyabun, could you play ninja with us?" Konohamaru asked with a pleading look in his eyes.

"Sakura-chan and I were about to get some lunch, afterwards," Naruto told them.

"Oh," Konohamaru looked at the kunoichi and asked, "Is she your?" Konohamaru held out his pinky finger.

"We're just team mates," Naruto told him.

"Good, no way Oyabun would be dating someone with a big forehead like that," Konohamaru thought aloud.

The temperature dropped several degrees.

"Konohamaru, she has a temper, best start running," Naruto told them as he summoned a few kage bunshin to try and keep her busy.

The kage bunshin didn't last a second against her as Naruto and the children were running.

Konohamaru was looking back to see if they lost her, not looking where he was going he ran into someone and fell on his rear. Before he could stand back up he was pulled into the air by his shirt.

"Oi, that hurt you little punk," a medium framed male said. The male had a black suit cover his entire body save for his face, the suit in question made him look like he had cat ears on the top of his head. He was wearing kabuki make-up and a hitae-ate with what looked like an hour glass in the middle on his head. The most noticeable feature was that he was carrying a bandaged up package over his shoulder.

"Kankuro, please, just put the kid down, we don't want to cause a scene," a girl behind him said. Said girl had dark blue eyes and her sandy-blonde in four pigtails, she wore the same type of hitae-ate around her neck. Her attire consisted of a one piece skirt that ended just above her knee. She was also taller than everyone present.

"Not until I've taught this punk some manners," the body, now known as Kankuro, said as he brought Konohamaru closer to his face.

Naruto just smirked and said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"And what's a shrimp like you gonna do to me if I continue?" Kankuro asked, clearly not intimidated.

"It's not what I would do, but what you would bring upon yourself, you do anything rash to the boy your holding and you may just put not only yourself but your father in a whole mess of trouble," the whiskered genin replied.

"What makes this kid so special?" Kankuro asked. He then thought and asked, "And for that matter how do you know the identity of my father?"

"My dream is to become Hokage, my uncle, knowing this, taught me fundamentals in politics, that includes knowing who's who as far as shinobi villages goes," Naruto explained. His grin got wider as he continued, "You name is Sabaku no Kankuro, son of Yondaime Kazekage, middle child of three, the oldest of the three, i.e. the female behind you, is Sabaku no Temari, and the youngest being Sabaku no Gaara. I have also heard that you're quite a puppeteer in the shinobi world, which is probably the identity of that bandaged package your holding."

The two were just looking at Naruto with their mouths agape. 'Just who is this guy?' was the only question going through their heads.

Sakura who had approached shortly before Naruto's speech was also a tad surprised with his explanation.

"Whatever, just because you know who I am doesn't mean shit, why would I be in trouble if I did anything to this kid? Would the Hokage bend backwards just to see the safety of one kid?" Kankuro asked.

"Under normal circumstances he'd most likely be too busy, but the circumstances can't be considered normal if you hold his grandson like that," Naruto answered.

"You mean this kid is the Hokage's grandson?" Kankuro asked rhetorically.

"And people call _me_ slow," Naruto commented which really ticked Kankuro.

Temari just chuckled at Naruto's comment.

"Alright, you're next after I take care of this kid," Kankuro said.

Sakura, trying to keep the peace pleaded, "Please just let him go, it was an accident anyway."

"Shut up you big foreheaded girl," Kankuro said, not knowing he just opened a can of worms.

"What did you say!?" was Sakura's demand in a vicious voice.

Naruto just summoned a kage bunshin and made some gestures, which the bunshin nodded to.

Before Kankuro knew what happened he felt a sudden pain in his cheek and was sent into the fence to his and Temari's left and everyone else's right.

Sakura just stood there, satisfied with the left hook she gave him.

"Geez, Sakura-chan, you better be glad I took care of things or you might have hurt Konohamaru," Naruto told her.

"Huh?" was Sakura's response and noticed that the young Sarutobi that was being held by Kankuro was now sitting in serious shock alongside the other children with how much power was behind her punch. She then looked to wear Kankuro went and asked, "Do you think I used too much power?"

"I can honestly say that, knowing Kankuro, you probably didn't use enough," was Temari's response as she put her arm over Sakura's shoulder. "I haven't seen someone send him rolling like that in a while. At first glance you certainly don't much as far as being a shinobi, but I like you if you've trained well enough to do that to Kankuro," she said with a chuckle.

Kankuro just stood up and said, "That hurt, forget the little punk, I'm seriously gonna maim that girl." He then stood up and noticed a lack of Konohamaru.

"He's over here," Naruto called through the fence.

"When did I drop the kid?" was Kankuro's question.

"You didn't, you'd been holding a kage bunshin since right before Sakura-chan punched you," Naruto said while Konohamaru just made faces.

"Why you..." Kankuro grumbled as he jumped over to his puppet and was about to open it when a stone came out of nowhere and hit Kankuro's hand.

Everyone looked up on the tree and the only one who didn't seem surprised was Naruto.

"Yo, teme, I was wondering when you'd finally show yourself," Naruto called out.

"I didn't think I'd need to, even if I'd just come here I could tell from the looks of things Sakura lost her temper and pajama boy there was the outlet," Sasuke replied tossing around a stone in his hand. "I think you'd do well not to underestimate any of us," he said as he caught the stone and crushed it.

"Why are you so irritable anyway?" Naruto asked the puppet user. "I mean I would understand if it was her," Naruto indicated Temari, "given the fact that traveling with a guy that smells like rusted metal, poison, dry wood and a heavy amount of B.O. would make anyone irritable."

Temari was seriously cracking up at Naruto's shots at Kankuro.

"Maybe I can ask tanuki-san standing on the other tree branch why you're in such a bad mood," Naruto finished indicating another presence. "He's just been standing on that branch, upside down longer than the teme has been here."

With that the other person vanished in sand and reappeared right next to Kankuro and Temari.

"You must be Gaara," Naruto said as he held his hand out with another of his grins. "Uzumaki Naruto, at your service."

Gaara looked at Naruto's hand for a bit, reached up, grabbed and shook the guys hand.

"Well, I'm glad that there's more than one person with manners in Sunagakure, especially considering all three of you are the children of the Kazekage," Naruto commented.

"Why you..." Kankuro started when he was suddenly cut off.

"Kankuro, you're an embarrassment to Suna and if you don't shut up," Gaara paused and said, "I'LL KILL YOU."

"That is the first time I've heard someone say that to their sibling and actually mean it," Naruto commented once again. "I can honestly say that no matter how dysfunctional your family, nothing I've seen thus far can merit this kind of hostility towards them, then again I don't know your childhood," he said to Gaara.

Kankuro and Temari both looked at Naruto as if he was crazy.

Everyone started hearing a chuckle and Temari and Kankuro were looking around to see where it was coming from. It took them a bit to realize that the chuckle was coming from Gaara, what really freaked them out is that there was no form of insanity heard in his voice, he was actually chuckling from amusement.

"You are certainly an interesting character, Naruto-san, I hope to fight you in the near future, but first," Gaara pointed to Sasuke and then Sakura. "May I have your names?"

"Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke replied.

"Haruno Sakura," the pink-haired kunoichi said.

"I shall remember those names," Gaara told them.

"Unbelievable," Naruto said.

"I know, Gaara seems strong," Sasuke said

"Ah," Sakura admitted.

"Actually I was talking about Sakura-chan," Naruto corrected.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"You finally get someone's attention other than mine and it's not intentional, or even the kind you wanted," Naruto said with a snicker.

"He has a point," Sasuke admitted. "Why were they here anyway?"

"The chuunin exams are in Konoha this time around," Naruto answered. "I think they just got lost looking for their hotel, but that's just my opinion," he admitted.

"So who is tanuki-san, and why'd you call him that in the first place?" Sasuke asked, clearly interested in a challenge.

"His name is Sabaku no Gaara, he's the youngest of the Kazekage's children and, given the way his siblings acted, most likely the most powerful, the only reason I knew this was because his description was relatively easy to remember, blood-red hair, rings under his eyes indicating lack of sleep, a gourd on his back and the word 'Ai' scarred above his left eye," Naruto explained. "I can't say I know much more than that, neither can Kaitou-ji. Though, given how extensive his spy network is, Ero-sennin might know. And the reason I called him tanuki-san was because of his scent, it smelled like a tanuki, I'm not really sure why but the first thing that came to me when his scent went to my nose was tanuki."

"How do you know all of this?" Sakura asked.

"I don't like repeating myself," Naruto told her. "Kaitou-ji drill politics into my head, that includes knowing people in influencial positions and their relatives, and the Kazekage is about as influencial in Sunagakure as you can get. Being a shinobi means knowing the identity of your target and why they're being targeted in the first place."

"Anyway, Sakura-chan and I were about to get some ramen, you wanna come, Teme?" Naruto offered.

"Why not," Sasuke replied.

No one made any noticeable reaction but Sakura's inner personality was shouting for joy, 'SHANNARO, SASUKE-KUN'S GONNA EAT WITH US.'

The Next Day...

The Hokage was having a meeting with his jounin. "Now everyone, this meeting is to discuss the Chuunin exam that will be starting within the week, given the fact that it'll be here I just need to hear any nominations."

A man with a bowl cut, thick eyebrows while wearing a green jumpsuit and his hitae-ate around his waist walked forward and stated, "I, Maito Gai, hereby nominate my three experienced, powerful and youthful genin, Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji and Hayase Tenten for the Chuunin Exam."

Kakashi stepped forward, "Due to interesting circumstances, my students have proven themselves ready for a new challenge, therefore I nominate Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke for this exam."

Kurenai stepped forward as well, "My students have also proven to be able to at least handle themselves, Hinata herself has become a tad more confident in her abilities and so I nominate Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino."

"Oyaji, my students have certainly surprised me within the past few weeks, in more ways than one," one laid back shinobi named Asuma stated. "I feel this exam will be good for them so I nominate Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji."

Iruka was the one who had an outburst, "You can't be serious, I've taught all nine of the genin indicated and I honestly believe that there is no way they're ready for the Chuunin Exam."

"I agree with Iruka-san, I held my team for a year to train them before I thought they were ready for these exams," Gai told him

"Why are you two arguing? I was less than half their age when I passed the exam," Kakashi said in a bored tone.

"But they aren't you," Iruka argued.

"That may be true, Umino-san, but unfortunately the moment they received their hitae-ate you lost your power over there decisions to being able to take this exam," Kaitou spoke out, making himself known.

"I agree, the moment they passed our tests was the moment they became our subordinates," Kakashi told Iruka. "And with the way they've been training I wouldn't be surprise if they were ready for the Jounin Exam right after they reach chuunin."

Iruka just looked at them.

"If you're so dead set on this why not test them out and see where they are for your standards," Kakashi told the scarred chuunin.

"I will then, do you have any objections, Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked.

"None what so ever," the old man replied. "Are there any other questions?" Hiruzen asked.

"Yeah, I have two students that need a team mate, is there anyone who wasn't able to graduate prior that had shown exceptional abilities when the jounin as well as the willingness to work as a team?" Kaitou asked.

"Actually, you're in luck, there was a student that didn't seem to have the greatest of luck when it came to who she was paired with as far as team mates go," Iruka said to him. "I've been trying to find a team with one less member but none of them seemed to have been available at the time."

"What's her name?" Kaitou asked.

"Gekkou Miki, she's the younger sister of Konoha's sword master, Gekkou Hayate," Iruka explained. The chuunin then pulled out a file with the information of the student they were talking about.

Kaitou raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Do you normally keep a file of your students on you at all time?" He then took the file from Iruka as he looked it over.

"Like I said, I've been trying to find a team for her," the chuunin responded.

Kaitou looked and then said, "I like what I see, does not strike unless struck at, tries to keep conflict to a minimum, defends other students."

"And that's not even half of the records," Iruka replied.

"Alright, I'll take her," Kaitou told him.

Iruka just nodded.

The Hokage told them, "Alright, if that's all then meeting adjourned."

An hour later...

Team seven was sitting at their normal meeting place when Kakashi finally appeared.

Naruto and Sasuke looked at the jounin with indifference while Sakura yelled out, "You're Late."

"Gomen, the Hokage set up a meeting with a few of the jounins for upcoming events," Kakashi explained.

Everyone looked at him.

"What?" Kakashi asked.

"That was actually a reasonable excuse," Sasuke answered.

"So where are the forms?" Naruto asked.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked.

"Kakashi-sensei is carrying three pieces of paper, most likely forms to fill out to participate in the Chuunin Exam, which was probably what the meeting he was at was about in the first place," Naruto said to him.

Everyone looked at Naruto in complete disbelief.

"What?" the blonde genin asked.

"How did you get to those conclusions?" Sakura asked.

"I'm actually wondering how he got it right," Kakashi admitted as he pulled the forms for said exam out.

"You don't normally smell like paper sensei, the book you carry around smells more like erotic incense than anything, so I figured you had some pieces of paper that had just come from an office, the smell itself wasn't all that strong so I figured that it would be around the numbers of one to five, and since there are three of us, not including yourself, and the fact the Chuunin Exam is starting in less than a week and the fact that you just mentioned that you were at a meeting with oyaji and other jounin, which is also confirmed through faint smells, some familiar, my only conclusion was that the meeting was about the Chuunin Exam and that you nominated us," Naruto thoroughly explained.

"When exactly did your sense of smell get that accurate?" Sasuke asked.

"Shortly after we became an official team, I'm not really sure why but my smell and hearing had started getting sharper all of the sudden," he answered.

"Anyway, this is an exam of your choice, it's each of your decisions as to whether or not you enter the exams, so take the rest of the week to think about it, the first part of the exam is held at the academy and they start on Saturday at 2:00 pm. The proctors also don't appreciate tardiness so if you aren't in the room by the deadline time, you won't be able to take it, and with that I bid you a good day," Kakashi told them as he poofed into a cloud of smoke.

Sasuke looked at his team mates and said, "Do you think we're ready?"

"Hell yeah, we didn't train for the last several weeks just to let a chance like this pass us by," Naruto spoke out.

"I'll go if you both think we're ready," Sakura said to them.

"It's not that I think we're ready, it's that I know we're ready, you showed a fair amount of your strength when you deck Kankuro yesterday and he's here to take the exam, if he thinks he's ready do you really think you should be doubting yourself," Naruto told the pink-haired kunoichi.

"Besides, Kakashi-sensei wants us to choose to take the exams on our own accord and not through the persuasion of our team mates," Sasuke told her. "If he didn't think we could handle it would he have nominated us in the first place."

"I guess not," Sakura admitted.

"Anyway, everyone here should take the time to see if we're really ready for this," Naruto told them. "The decision will be if we're all there on Saturday or not."

"Works for me," Sasuke responded.

"Ah," Sakura agreed.

Later that day...

Naruto was walking alongside the quartet of shinobi hopefuls, ie Konohamaru and his friends.

Naruto turned to them and said, "You four should add two more to your group, at least then you'd be able to start working as two teams, from what I recall, Hinata has a younger sister, if she's as nice as Hinata you won't have to worry about getting along."

His suggestion got the group to start thinking.

It was during this little interaction that Konohamaru was snatched up by some unknown shinobi.

"Man, Konohamaru, who do you keep pissing off that this keeps happening to you?" Naruto asked before he took a deep breath through his nose and out his mouth. "Although, in this case, you might have just done it unintentionally. What exactly are you doing, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked, a tad confused at this point.

The unknown shinobi just looked at Naruto with a slight bit of surprise before he calmed down and said, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"The look in your eyes said otherwise," Naruto replied with a smirk. "Just drop the henge, only an idiot would think to try a henge around someone who has spent a great deal of time around them and not try to cover up their scent."

Iruka just sweatdropped at Naruto's logic but silently commended him for it as well as he put the young Sarutobi down and released his henge.

"Well, you've certainly come a long way from where you used to be," the chuunin admitted aloud.

"You wanna tell us why you put up this whole charade?" Naruto asked.

"I was hesitant to allow you to take the Chuunin Exam, but you've removed my doubt, I'll be testing the rest of the rookie nine as well," Iruka explained.

Right before the chuunin poofed away Naruto said, "You give us far too little credit, don't count us out just because you knew us when we were your students. A great deal can change in a few months. I'm positive that everyone else will go beyond your expectations."

Iruka nodded and smiled at Naruto's confidence, but only the future would tell. The chuunin poofed away to test the next genin.

"Do you think you should warn you're friends?" Konohamaru asked.

"Looking out for my friends may be a good thing, but sometimes doing just that is more insulting that helpful, especially in cases like this when there's no real danger, they'll either figure out it's Iruka-sensei, figure out it's just a test or they'll pass the test without even figuring out that it's all a test, they'll get to participate in the Chuunin Exam no matter which one happens," Naruto explained. "No point in messing with Iruka-sensei's fun."

Konohamaru just looked at Naruto with a questioning gaze.

"Iruka-sensei was a bit of a clown when he was my age, I think this allows him to relieve a bit of stress that I know has been building up for some time," Naruto told him with a knowing expression.

Konohamaru just shrugged.

A Few Days Later...

It was Saturday and around 1:00 pm and Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were all standing outside the academy.

The first thing Naruto did when he saw them was ask, "How long did it take you to pass Iruka-sensei's test?"

"It took me about three seconds to realize that there was no intent to hurt anyone, and I saw through the illusion pretty quickly," Sakura admitted.

Sasuke looked down in annoyance.

"Did you beat Iruka-sensei to the point where he had to reveal himself?" Naruto asked.

"Ah," Sasuke replied. He was angry with himself for not seeing through the whole scenario before hurting his former sensei.

"Hey, you passed, so why sulk," Naruto told him. "Now let's get inside before we're late."

"Hai," Sasuke replied.

"Ah," was Sakura's response.

* * *

End of Chapter.

Not much going on here except for a few revelations about Naruto, the introduction of Gai and a mention of Hinata's younger sister, Hanabi. That being said, Naruto doesn't actually know Hanabi's given name so of course all he can refer to her as is Hinata's younger sister. Naruto passed the test before it barely even started, so, chances are, he tried that little stunt when testing Kiba because of the sensitivity of an Inuzuka's nose. Anyway Read & Review.


	10. Chapter 9: The Exam Starts

**The Eye of the Beholder**

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"Talking"

'Thinking'

Flashback

**Demons and higher beings**

**Disclaimer: I don****'t own Naruto.**

Chapter 9: The Exam Starts

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura walked into the academy and walked up a flight of steps to see a bunch of genin crowding around a door with the sign 301 next to it.

Naruto just looked at Sasuke and Sakura with a look that pretty much said 'are you kidding me'.

Sasuke and Sakura nodded and the Uchiha was about to walk forward when Naruto grabbed his shoulder.

"Let's wait it out, less people means a better chance at passing," the blond muttered into Sasuke's ear.

Sasuke just smirked and nodded.

The three just stood by just outside the area as a genin with a bowl shaped haircut, thick eyebrows and very round eyes wearing a green jumpsuit with his hitae-ate with a red cloth around his waist, was pushed back by what looked like two other genin standing in the doorway. One of the genin had a bandage over his nose while the other had his hair covering his right eye.

"Excuse me, pardon me," a voice said as three genin were trying to pass through. The voice belonged to Haku as he looked at the doorway, "Why is there a genjutsu on the doorway?" he asked.

Nearly everyone looked at Haku while Naruto and Sasuke just laughed at everyone's reaction.

"What are you talking about?" some random person asked.

"He's asking why there's a genjutsu up," Sasuke pulled himself in the conversation while still chuckling. "Seriously, do none of the people here know how to count, we're only on the second floor."

Everyone else's reaction got Naruto seriously laughing at this point.

The looks on the genins' faces when they realized that they had indeed only traveled up one floor got them looking at the two at the door in serious annoyance.

The genin at the door, although slightly annoyed that their trick was found out just smirked at the Uchiha.

"You really think you're ready for the Chuunin Exam if you couldn't even detect this little genjutsu," the bandaged one moved to strike at Sasuke.

Said Uchiha was responding with his own kick when a green blur stopped both attacks.

The blur was revealed to be the green wearing gening with thick eyebrows. "We don't need any needless violence," was all the green clad genin said.

"Oi, Lee, weren't you the one who wanted us to keep attention from ourselves," a female genin with brown eyes, brunette hair in two buns, she was wearing a pink, chinese style blouse and a pair of green pants and her hitae-ate on her forehead.

"Gomen, Tenten," the boy, now known as Lee said.

"Oi, what happened to the bruise you sported earlier?" Naruto asked with a smirk. He then sniffed the air and said, "There's a Hyuuga in the area."

"Very perceptive," a voice spoke out.

Everyone else turned to the source of said voice.

The source was a male around the same age as Lee and Tenten. The boy had white eyes, indicating his Hyuuga heritage, he was wearing a white shirt and navy blue shorts with bandages going from his sleeve down his right arm and wrapping a bit around his fingers and thumb, his hitae-ate on his forehead as well. His hair color was the traditional Hyuuga's, long and black.

"Neji," Naruto yelled as he pointed at the older genin.

"Do I know you?" Neji asked, wondering about this rookie that was talking to him.

"I was in the younger class when I took the genin exam at the same time as you," Naruto answered. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"You failed, didn't you?" Neji asked.

"Ah, but I passed a year later due to unforeseen events," Naruto told him. "You were the rookie of the year when you graduated the academy."

"Indeed," Neji answered.

"Hinata also mentioned you occasionally during training," Naruto said with a thoughtful look. "You're her cousin, right?"

"Also true," Neji comfirmed.

Naruto just looked at Neji with a smirk, "Good luck in the exam, and you better hope you don't have to fight us early on. I've sparred a Hinata a few times, and I can honestly say she certainly proves the strength of your clan. But you haven't seen true power until you've seen Ero-sennin at work."

"We shall see," Neji stated as he walked in the direction of the stairwell, although he was wondering the identity of this Ero-sennin Naruto was talking about.

Tenten followed him.

Team 7 were about to head off when a voice called out to them.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the voice of Lee said and the team turned around. "Before we start the exams, why don't we have a friendly spar," he offered.

Sasuke shrugged, nodded and walked over.

Another area of the building...

The green clad genin simply bowed to Team 7 as he introduced himself, "I am Konoha's Green Beast, Rock Lee, and I am currently the strongest genin in Konoha."

Naruto just raised an eyebrow at this comment and said, "I doubt that."

Lee looked at Naruto for a bit and then at Sakura and said, "What a magnificent beauty we have here?"

Naruto's only comment was, "Now you have the attention you like, the question is whether or not you want the attention."

Sakura herself was a little freaked out by Lee's eyebrows, but thought that he didn't seem like a bad guy.

Lee spoke out, "If you were with me, I would do everything in my power to ensure your happiness."

"Arigatou, but no thank you on the offer, I would prefer to being a better kunoichi before I seek a relationship with anyone at the moment," Sakura told him, in a half truth. Over the past few weeks she started to see more of the shinobi world that she hadn't known existed and therefore she decided to become stronger to keep make sure she was tougher than what lies ahead of her in the future.

"YOSH, YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH GUIDE YOU TO BEING A BETTER SHINOBI," Lee shouted out.

Team 7 just sweatdropped at Lee's enthusiasm.

Lee looked at Sasuke and stated, "Uchiha Sasuke, as the strongest genin in Konoha, we will then begin to fight."

Sasuke just shrugged and got into a fighting stance.

"Teme, this guy is a year older, meaning he has more experience, don't underestimate him," Naruto told him.

Sasuke just nodded to Naruto and smirked as he closed his eyes and then opened the to reveal two double tomoe sharingan in his eyes.

"So that's what you were keeping secret, not that it's much of a secret considering that's what the Uchiha clan is known for," Naruto commented.

Sasuke just ignored Naruto's comment as he charged forward.

Lee just paried his punch as he countered with a sweep, which Sasuke avoided and struck out with a kick. Lee was slightly surprised but he only blocked the moved. This went on for about thirty second until Lee started to get desperate.

"Kage Buyo," Lee said and he disappeared from Sasuke's view.

Sasuke looked around and then looked down, he only had a fraction of a second to respond, which he did instinctively by leaning backwards.

Lee's kick went over Sasuke's body.

"Woah," was the only thing Sasuke could say as he jumped back.

"Nice move there," was all that Sasuke could say.

"Arigatou," Lee nodded. He was about to rush forward but before he could do anything a voice shouted out.

"Lee, you were attempting to use a forbidden move on an ally," the voice said and in a puff of smoke a red-skinned and red-shelled turtle came into view.

Lee stood straight up and ran towards the turtle.

"Why were you acting so rashly?" the turtle asked.

Lee took one knee and said, "Gomen, but I wasn't going to use the reverse."

Team 7 was just watching this interaction with a bit of interest given the fact that the genin was being scolded by a turtle.

"Are you ready to accept the consequences for your actions?" the turtle asked harshly.

"Osu," Lee said with a nod.

"Yosh, Gai-sensei, you can take it from here," the turtle said.

In a puffed of smoke Maito Gai appeared in a ridiculous pose. "You are all in the spring of your youth," Gai stated.

Team 7 just looked at these guys with a seriously diisturbed expression.

Sasuke's concentration was lost and his sharingan was off due to this reason.

"Lee," Gai stated.

"Gai-sensei," Lee stated in attention.

"BAKA YAROU," Gai shouted as he punched his student.

This really got Team 7 to look at the two weirdly.

Gai just walked over to his student and said with tears running down his cheeks, "Lee."

Lee just looked up, he also had tears streaming down his face, "Gai-sensei."

Suddenly out of nowhere a sunset appeared behind the two.

"Lee," Gai said.

"Gai-sensei," Lee said as he ran and hugged Gai. Behind Gai the turtle had tears in his eyes

Team 7 was just looking at them with disbelieving eyes.

"Well, every shinobi has their quirks," was all Naruto said.

His team mates just nodded.

"It's normal to make mistakes when your young, so this is okay Lee," Gai said with a hand on Lee's shoulder.

"Hai," Lee said with a nod.

"As your sensei, it's my responsibility to accept punishment as well so we will run around Konoha twenty times," Gai stated with his left hand in a fist.

"YOSH," Lee said, about to follow them when Naruto called out.

"That's fine and dandy, but how about you do that after the exam," the blond called out.

"He's right Lee, we'll put this punishment on hold," Gai stated. He then looked at Team 7 and asked, "How is Kakashi doing?"

"I can't say I'm surprised you know him, Kakashi-sensei is doing pretty well, although he needs to get he nose out of that book more often," Naruto replied. "More importantly, what exactly are you to him?"

"We are eternal rivals," Gai said with extreme enthusiasm. "The current scores we have are 50-49 in my favor, so therefore I am stated through that to be stronger."

"Whatever, no disrespect or anything but we need to get going," Naruto stated as he turned around.

"AHHHHH, CURSE YOU KAKASHI-SAN FOR TEACHING YOUR STUDENTS YOUR HIP ATTITUDE," Gai shouted.

The only thing going through everyone Team 7's heads was, 'What the hell is this guy talking about?'

"Anyway, Lee-san, ganbatte, we'll probably see one another in the exam," Naruto said, being polite.

"Matte," Lee said.

Team 7 looked at Lee.

"I was lying when I said I was the strongest genin from Konoha, but the strongest is most likely on my team," Lee admitted to them.

"I've said it once, I'll say it again, I doubt that," Naruto replied as he and his team stepped out of the room.

Back with Gai and Lee...

"Lee, Naruto-san is a very special case," Gai told his student before Lee left the room. "When he said that he doubted that you or any of your team mates were the strongest, he wasn't disrespecting your abilities, he meant what he said."

"What do you mean?" Lee asked.

"I can't give you any details, but I will tell you this, and promise me that when facing Naruto-san, if his appearance starts becoming more feral and his attack more beast-like you must retreat, disregard your pride, and the only reason why you would never back down against him is if you are protecting someone, promise me this," Gai told him. "Naruto-san himself can be trusted, it's just that some things you need to be careful about."

"Osu, Gai-sensei," Lee stated as he rushed back to his team.

"I just hope that Lee doesn't have to heed my warning," Gai said to himself as he was wearing a serious face.

With Team 7...

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all walked to the room 301 to find Kakashi standing at the door.

"Good, you're all here," Kakashi stated.

"Are you talking about the fact that only three-man teams are allowed enter the Chuunin exam?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke and Sakura just looked at Naruto, then Kakashi, then Naruto again.

"You knew?" Kakashi asked.

"Sensei, there is no such thing as a one-man team, and every Chuunin Exam, it's either all the team gets nominated of none get nominated, so that lead me to believe that the Chuunin Exam can only be entered as three-man teams," Naruto stated with confidence in his voice.

"Did you tell those two?" Kakashi asked, indicating Sasuke and Sakura.

"Would it have made a difference if I had?" Naruto asked. "First, I figured they'd have figured it out already, and second, even if they didn't that just meant that they chose on there own."

"Like what I was doing," Kakashi stated. "It seems you cared more about your team mates free will than your own benefits."

"Think about it this way, why should my team mates risk their lives for something that only I would want to do, better for them to make the decision on their own, I know they have the power, the will and the knowledge to take this test, but that doesn't mean shit if they don't have the conviction to they need. In the end, without conviction you may as well be the broomstick that was replaced when the vacuum came along, unless you have the conviction to prove you're more useful than the vacuum, you'll be replaced," Naruto replied with his comparison.

The rest of Team 7 was looking at Naruto.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"That's some pretty deep stuff, Naruto," Sakura said to him. "Your analogy was also well thought out."

"Well, when Kaitou-ji started to train us, while he was teaching me politics, I did some thinking of my own and I came to quite a few revelations during that time," Naruto admitted. "Eventually, we're going to be separated as a team, so I figured if that's gonna happen, I might as well make sure that we're not separated because a death, more specifically, the death any of you."

"You've really thought this through," Kakashi thought aloud. "I wish I'd had that train of thought when I was your age."

"Why is that?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi hesitated with the answer to Sasuke's question.

"If you don't want to answer, then that's your business," Naruto said. Naruto turned to him team mates and said, "Best not to push him, because it might open up old wounds, besides we don't have time to listen to the story."

Both nodded in agreement, they couldn't argue with what Naruto had said.

Kakashi poofed away as his team stepped through the doors.

As Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura stepped through the doorway they could feel several eyes on them as it seemed that everyone was watching them.

"What are you looking at!?" Naruto shouted.

This had a divided effect, nearly half the room looked away while the other half glared at him.

For those that glared, Naruto just glared back. He looked around for a bit and then said, "Teme, best to duck right now."

Sasuke, although finding Naruto's advice odd, did as he was told and a yellow and purple blur passed over him and right into Sakura.

Now normally this wouldn't have meant much, but how the blur landed really got a few heads turning, mainly the males. The reason for this was because the yellow and purple blur was Ino, and she landed on Sakura, however, what really got everyone else's attention was the fact that Ino had landed face to face on Sakura, more specifically mouth to mouth. This of course got quite a few cat calls from most of the guys.

This, of course, got both kunoichi to to go wide-eyed.

"Wow, Ino, I didn't know you swung both ways, you should have mentioned something," Naruto commented with a snicker. He looked down at his team mate, still snickering. "Gomen, Sakura-chan, if I had known that she was gonna land on you I would have just let her jump on Sasuke's back again," Naruto admitted sheepishly. Naruto then looked around after seeing a flash from the corner of his eye, he saw quite a few guys taking pictures. Naruto leaned down and helped Ino off of Sakura and got them both off the floor. "If it's any consolation, Sasuke and I know exactly how you two feel," he whispered to them.

"Mendokuse, Ino, you always end up causing some sort of trouble," Shikamaru said as he walked over to the group with Chouji alongside him. "Gomen," he said to Sakura.

"I can't blame you for this accident," Sakura waved it off. "Stuff happens, hopefully not often, but it still happens."

Shikamaru shrugged as Chouji dug into the potato chips he was holding.

"Well, looks like the rookie 9 are all here," Kiba said as he walked up with Shino and Hinata behind him.

"Yo," Naruto said to his friends. "How have you two been doing with your combo extra?" he asked Kiba keeping as minimal information out as possible.

"You'll just have to see in the exam," Kiba answered with a smirk.

"So you're about 75% away from mastering," Naruto said with a knowing look.

"How did you know that?" Kiba yelled.

"Because you just told him," Shino answered for Naruto. "Naruto-san was bluffing, and instead of calling him on it, you played into his hand,"

"Nice answer there, Shino," Naruto commented.

As Naruto was about to take a step, Shino stopped him and gestured for Naruto to look down. When he did he saw a spider walking along and he would have stepped on it had Shino not intervened.

"I get you on that one Shino, let the bugs live on," Naruto declared with a hand in the air. "Let's start a campaign to save the bugs."

Nearly everyone in the room was looking at Naruto like he was a moron.

"Enough jokes, Naruto, you're making a scene," Sasuke said indicating that everyone was watching them again.

Naruto just waved it off, "I made a scene the moment I entered the room, anything else and the people will just start thinking that there's something wrong with me."

Sasuke just chuckled, knowing that what he said held a great deal of truth.

"You rookies might want to quiet down or you'll end up bringing too much attention to yourselves," a voice stated. The rookie 9 turned their heads to see a male, glasses wearing, shinobi from Konoha walking towards them. He had silver hair tied in a ponytail and was wearing purple clothing.

"And you are..." Naruto started.

"Forgive me, my name is Yakushi Kabuto," the glasses wearing shinobi stated. "I'd say look around, but it appears you'd already done so. Quite a few of the shinobi have a short temper, and most of them were tense because it's right before the start of the exam, but the incident between the two kunoichi seems to have lightened the mood a bit. Although it might be because you're rookies that you have so much attention on you," Kabuto told them. "I will say that your naivety reminds me of how I use to be."

"I doubt that," Naruto said for the third time that day.

"How many times have you attempted the exam?" Sakura asked, curious.

"This is actually my seventh time," Kabuto admitted.

Naruto narrowed his eyes a bit, 'There is no way someone would unintentionally fail the exam six times in a row, that's twice a year.' Naruto thought to himself, although trusting when it comes to some circumstances, knows better when someone responds with complete honesty to a question like that. 'Now the question is, why did he fail six time,' he finished his thoughts.

"So you must know quite a bit about this exam if you took it both times for the past three years," Sakura said.

"Hai," Kabuto replied.

"But you haven't passed yet," Shikamaru stated with his bored expression.

Kabuto just scratched the back of his head, "Yes, well..."

"Mendokuse, just how difficult is this exam?" Shikamaru asked rhetorically.

"Well, my experience does bear fruit, I have information on different villages and shinobi as well as the exam itself," Kabuto told them.

'That explains everything,' Naruto thought to himself.

Kabuto pulled out a deck of cards and said, "These cards carry the information, I add more info to each card using my chakra." He then turned one over revealing it blank. He then placed one finger on the card and started rotating it.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked.

"The images imprinted on these cards were placed on here by my chakra, therefore only my chakra can make said images appear," Kabuto explained as a map of the elemental nations appeared. There appeared to be numbers and some form of graph on each country. "The numbers indicate how many shinobi came from each country. Konoha, being the highest, mainly because the exams are being held in this village," he continued. Kabuto asked, "Do any of you know why the villages send shinobi from their own village just for the exam?"

No one answered so it seemed as if not one of them knew.

Since he got his answer, Kabuto continued, "It's to increase the relationships between villages, and for some, allow their genin to get stronger. At least that's what they say."

"I take it there's another reason?" Sasuke asked.

"Hai, it's to keep tabs on the other villages and make sure that they can balance out the village powers," the experienced genin told them. "The main reason for this is to keep invasions from the stronger countries. It does well to ensure that no one country gets too powerful. At least that's my theory."

"You mentioned that your cards have information on shinobi, does it specify personal information?" Sasuke asked, interested.

"Hai, is there anyone specific that you want to see?" Kabuto asked.

"Ah," Sasuke said.

"I don't have everything, but I have an exceptional amount of information. Yours are in there as well," Kabuto said as he put his first card on the top of the deck. "Who do you want to know about? If you can describe them, I see what I can do."

"Sabaku no Gaara, from Sunagakure and Rock Lee, from Konoha, and also Uzumaki Naruto, from Konoha," Sasuke specified with a serious face.

"Well, knowing their names makes this easy," Kabuto as he activated his cards and search through each one. He pulled out three cards and said, "Here they are."

"Let's see them," Sasuke said.

Kabuto put down the first card, "Rock Lee, last year he had barely passed the academy, but since then his skills in taijutsu have exponentially increased, this is his first time taking the Chuunin Exam as well, his leader is Maito Gai and his team mates are name Hayase Tenten and Hyuuga Neji." He put another card down and read out, "Sabaku no Gaara, no specifications of abilities, he's been on apparently mystery number of C-rank missions, twenty D-rank missions and a B-rank one, all without receiving any form of physical inflictions." Kabuto then put down the final card and said, "Uzumaki Naruto, your team mate, his taijutsu is slightly above par, ninjutsu also above par and genjutsu below average, it also appears that he has an affinity to all five elements, which is unheard of."

Naruto narrowed his eyes seriously when he heard that, 'There is no way he could have that information, Kaitou-ji forced everyone to keep that a secret, I smell a rat, or even a snake.' He then looked around and noticed that no one seemed to be paying attention, 'At least no one was really listening to my personal info.'

Kabuto then explained the different villages and said, "Konoha, Suno, Ame, Kusa, Taki, Oto, there are many talented genin from each village participating. Although I don't have much information about Oto because it's a new village of a small country, so it's most likely a minor village at the moment and this is their first Chuunin Exam. Either way they're all powerful villages."

"So what you're saying is..." Sakura said.

"Everyone here are elite genin of their villages, not just Lee and Gaara," Kabuto finished for her.

"Kabuto, I don't know where or how you got your information, but I warn you right now that you are on thin ice with me. I seriously doubt you're as kind as you make yourself out to be, and I've no clue how strong you are, but one this will be made clear, if I can handle a light spar from Ero-sennin, I can handle you," Naruto muttered in a low tone, so only those near him could hear, to the spectacled genin with a glare. "You're nothing more than an information broker to me, and you know what you're doing in tha field, but you don't know what I can do so the first thing you should do if you come across me is run, and hope to high hell I'm either too busy or haven't noticed you yet."

Most of the Rookie 9 just looked at Naruto like he was a completely different person.

Naruto then pointed to everyone else in general and yelled out, "I AM UZUMAKI NARUTO, AND I WILL NOT LOSE TO ANY ONE OF YOU."

Most of the Rookie 9 just sweatdropped at Naruto's outburst.

"It's that guy we met earlier," Kankuro stated.

"The weaker ones are the ones that talk the most shit," Temari stated.

"I believe he has the ability to follow through with his words," Gaara admitted. "There's something more about him."

The two looked at Gaara and then Naruto.

Tenten just said, "Idiot."

"He seems energetic," Neji said.

"He has a great flame," Lee said.

Neji then replied, "Maybe you should have beaten some sense into him."

"Neji, don't take him lightly, Gai-sensei warned me about him, if there is any abnormalities in his abilities than usual or if his attacks are more animal-like then the best course of action is to run," Lee warned his team mate.

Neji just looked at Lee with serious doubt.

"I don't know the full story, but if it's enough for Gai-sensei to warn us, the least we can do is heed the warning," Lee told him.

Neji and Tenten both nodded as they looked at Naruto.

A team muttered amongst themselves. All of them had their hitae-ates on their foreheads.

"They're underestimating us by saying we're most likely a minor village," said one with spiky hair wearing black bands on his arms, a loose tan shirt and a black and gray camo scarf and matching pants.

"Maybe we should play with them," said a female with long black hair. She was wearing a green sleeveless blouse and a gray and black camo scarf with a pair of identical pants as well.

"I agree, they act like we're just leftovers because we're from a new village," said the last member, this one was wrapped almost completely in bandages. He had something like a furry pelt on his back and his loose robe-like shirt had sleeves covered his arms completely. Like his team mates he was also wearing a black and gray camo scarf and pants. "Let's have him put this among his information, Oto shinobi are crueler than most."

The rookie 9 were just looking at Naruto.

"Big talk, Naruto, we'll see later if you can back it up," Kiba said with a grin.

"Why did you make everyone else your enemy?" Shikamaru asked.

"Better me than you, and I can back up my words plenty," Naruto said to Kiba and Shikamaru.

The Oto shinobi then moved forward. The bandaged one pulled his right sleeve with his left hand to reveal a gauntlet-like or bracer-like item on his right arm that covered his forearm.

Kankuro pulled one of the bandages off of his shoulder when Gaara held his hand up.

The spiky haired one had two kunai ready and threw them.

Kabuto just jumped out of the way, only to be attacked by the bandaged one who threw a right hook. Kabuto dodged said attack and seemed to be unhurt until his glasses broke. He raised is eyebrow as he thought to himself.

"Kiba, did you and Akamaru hear that?" Naruto asked.

"Ah," Kiba replied. Being of the Inuzuka clan, he had a few senses that were higher than normal like his sense of smell or his hearing.

"You know what that means, but don't yell it out, just use it to your advantage if you end up fighting him, we know, but he doesn't know that we know, so that gives us an edge if necessary," Naruto finished.

"Good idea," Kiba admitted.

Kabuto then started to get dizzy and was on his knees, a second later he started to vomit.

Sakura was about to run over but Naruto muttered her, "He's fine, he took that hit intentionally. He was gaging their abilities."

"I thought you'd be better, given that you're a four year veteran for the Chuunin Exam," the bandaged one said.

The spiky-haired one then spoke, "Put this in your cards, all the Oto shinobi are going to become chuunin in this exam."

Naruto thought to himself, 'That arrogance is going to get him killed, and probably his team as well.'

There was a puff of smoke in the front of the room and a harsh voice said, "Shut up, you punks. And you Oto nin, I give you one warning, any more misconduct during this part of the exam and I will disqualify from the exam right then and there." When the smoke cleared, it revealed twelve chuunin standing behind a jounin. "I hope you all weren't waiting long, I am Morino Ibiki, the proctor for the first part of the exam."

* * *

End of Chapter...

The longest chapter I have written thus far. I just couldn't find a sooner place to end said chapter. Naruto didn't trust Kabuto at this point in time, experience in this story has taught him that one can wear a smile for quite a few things, one being a devious plotting. Now Kabuto knows that, although his cover isn't blown, he's earned the animosity of one of the worst people in the exam to piss off. I honestly think that he still has no idea what Naruto is capable of, Kaitou has been training Naruto efficiently, and he's currently wearing his weights, let's see if Kabuto has what it takes to take Naruto on in a later chapter. Anyway Read & Review.


	11. Chapter 10: Hidden Meaning

**The Eye of the Beholder**

_Review Replies:_

_Rose Tiger: Hinata is there, otherwise I wouldn't have said the Rookie 9, she just doesn't talk as much. She's still shy and needs more time to break out of her shell, that being said she's a great deal more confident in her abilities as a shinobi. She won't be fighting Neji in the preliminaries, I've got a special line up for her. And, no, it won't be Naruto._

"Talking"

'Thinking'

_Flashback and Notes_

**Demons and Higher Beings**

**Disclaimer:I don****'t own Naruto**

Chapter 10: Hidden Meaning

* * *

"I'm Morino Ibiki, the proctor for the first part of the exam," said a jounin standing in front of twelve chuunin. The jounin was a male in his mid to late twenties, he was wearing a black trench coat that was open, he had a tan complection with two inconsistant claw-like scars on his face and his hitat-ate was on a bandanna that was wrapped over his head. The look on his face said that he meant business. He pointed to the Oto genin, "Oto shinobi as I've said before, you do anything else during this part of the exam, I'll disqualify immediately."

"Gomen, this is our first exam, so we're a tad excited," the bandaged one said.

"Before we start I will make this clear, unless otherwise specified by the proctor, fighting is not permitted during the exam, and when permitted, killing isn't, any who fail to follow these rules will be removed from this exam immediately," Ibiki said in a serious voice.

"Heh, you guys are too soft, this'll be a piece of cake," the spiky haired Oto genin said.

"The first exam of the Chuunin Selection Exam starts now, all applicants turn in your forms," Ibiki specified. He held up a small tag with a number, "The moment you turn in your form you will be given one of these number tags, you will then take a seat in the chair with the same number specified on your tag. When everyone has been seated we will pass out the papers for the written exam."

Naruto just shrugged, if he passed he passed, and he doubted that they'd put a written exam without a hidden meaning. He turned in his form, got his number and looked for his seat, which was in the third row in the middle secion and one seat to the left of the walkway when facing the front of the room. The blond sat down and waited with his eyes closed for a bit until he heard someone sit down on his right, normally this wouldn't have merited his attention, but the smell of lilacs, lavender and a small hint of vanilla went through his nose. He turned his head and saw that Hinata was sitting right next to him. Naruto just smirked and said the shy Hyuuga, "Yo, Hinata, looks like we got lucky."

Hinata just blushed, nodded and said, "Un."

A question went through Naruto's head, 'Why does she always blush when she's around me? Although it is cute.' Naruto stopped his thoughts and ran over them and said, 'Did I just think Hinata' blushing was cute?'

While these thoughts were going through Naruto's head other thoughts were going through his neighbor's head.

'YATTA, I'M SITTING NEXT TO NARUTO-KUN,' Hinata was thinking excitedly.

A tap on the black board got everyone's attention as Ibiki spoke with a piece of chalk in his hand, "I have a few rules I need to specify, and I will not answer any questions about said rules so listen carefully."

Everyone was paying close attention.

"Rule 1: You will start off with ten points. There are ten question worth one point each, if you get one question wrong you lose a point, if the question is not answered you also lose a point," Ibiki explained.

'Makes sense,' Naruto thought to himself.

"Rule 2: Your ability to pass this portion of the exam is all dependant on the points of your entire team have gained, if one of you fails their team mates fail," Ibiki told them with a straight face.

This got a few gasps from quite a few of the applicants.

Naruto thought again, 'Also makes sense, they wouldn't allow us to take the exam individually so breaking the team apart this early would conflict with the entire exam.'

"I will explain my reasoning, so no question," Ibiki told them. "Rule 3: If the examiner catches you cheating or anything similar, two points will be deducted."

Once again quite a few of the genin gasped.

Naruto kept a cool head while trying to think about the hidden meaning.

"Those who cheat without careful thought will only hurt themselves and their team mates," Ibiki told them.

"We will be checking off the names of those we've caught cheating," one of them said, this one looked a lot like one of the genin that had the genjutsu on the door on the second floor.

"Before you can become chuunins, you have to be able to prove yourselves in being quality shinobi," Ibiki told them.

Everyone was trying to keep a cool facade when Ibiki spoke out again.

"Also if anyone gets a zero, the entire team fails," the proctor spoke out.

This got even more gasps from the chuunin hopefuls.

'Once again, makes sense,' Naruto thought with a nod.

"The last question will be given forty-five minutes into the exam, you have one hour for the exam," the proctor told them.

The second hand on the clock reach the top, indicating that the time reached 1:00 pm.

"Begin," Ibiki told them.

Naruto shrugged and looked the paper over. 'Okay, I might be able to figure out a few of these, but none of this was covered in the academy. There is no way any normal genin could answer some of these without some form of calculation device.' Naruto then looked over to the examiners and noticed that one wrote on their clipboard. 'Obviously someone doesn't know how to keep himself from cheating very easily,' then the answer hit Naruto like a ton of bricks. 'They don't care about whether or not you answer these question correctly, they just want to see if you can cheat without being caught.' Naruto then smirked as he tapped his foot to his right, effectively getting Hinata's attention.

Hinata looked at Naruto while the blond was leaning his chin on his right hand just below his his right cheek with his elbow on the desk. He was tapping his temple, like he was thinking of something.

The Hyuuga heiress was thinking for a bit before her leg was tapped again, this time slightly lower. It took Hinata a few seconds before she realized that Naruto was indicating her eyes. She then put her hand in a seal and activated her family's doujutsu, the Byakugan.

Naruto looked out of the corner of his eye and smirked and started writing on his paper. What he wrote said,

_Hinata,_

_The object of this test is to cheat well without getting caught, can you indicate subtly which of the ones here has all the answers?_

Hinata then scanned the room for a bit, then she found that the person close to Naruto seemed to be doing very well. She then tapped Naruto's leg with her own foot to get his attention. When she did she tapped the desk twice.

Naruto just smirked and wrote down something else.

_Tap my foot once if it's yes and twice if it's no. To acknowledge that you understand tap my foot three times._

Hinata then tapped Naruto's foot three times. Blushing due to said contact.

This little interaction went on for a bit before Naruto got the information he needed.

_Thank you for the help, Hinata._

Hinata just blushed again at being praise by Naruto.

Naruto decided to do a little trick of his own, more specifically with his kage bunshin. 'What better way to use the bunshin's information gathering abilities than to gather information?' he thought rhetorically. With that thought he put his hands under the table and summoned one bunshin, which transformed into an ant. 'One of the few times where smashing an ant would help another person out,' Naruto thought with a snicker.

After the bunshin reached his target he started wandering around the paper and memorizing the answers, if only for a brief moment.

Apparently the person who's test Naruto's clone was on didn't like the ant, so he crushed it with his fist, only to be confused when there was no entrails or any remains on the bottom of his fist or paper.

'Thank you, human nature,' Naruto snickered again as he wrote all the answers his bunshin had memorized. He then turned his paper over

Right then a kunai was about to fly pass Naruto's face, but reflex got the better of him and he caught it.

The examiners and Ibiki were all suprised that Naruto had caught the kunai when he wasn't even paying attention, especially the one that had thrown it.

"Ano, gomen, do you want your kunai back?" Naruto said as he stood up with said kunai in hand.

The chuunin, although surprised, chuckled and said, "No, but thank you for the consideration, there's a person sitting right behind you, put it in his paper, because he failed."

Naruto just shrugged and did what he was told figuring bad cheater wouldn't last long in the future.

"What the hell are you doing?" the owner of the paper Naruto just impaled demanded as he stood up.

"You got caught, so you failed," Naruto told him as he sat back down.

Ibiki's only thoughts about Naruto were, 'How the hell did this kid fail the Genin Exam three times with reflexes like that?'

"Like the blond said, you failed, team mates of the one standing stand up and leave the room," the owner of the kunai said as he pointed at the genin.

The team mates did so with an annoyed expression.

"Number 23, failed," the kunai owner said.

"Number 27 and number 43, failed," the chuunin examiners said.

As time passed more people got caught, some left with some dignity still intact while others were dragged out, kicking and screaming. One actually challenged the examiner's abilities to see his cheating only to be slammed against the wall.

Naruto just shook his head, 'Don't challenge them, there's a reason why they're chuunin, and an even better reason why they were selected as examiners for this exam.'

This went on for quite a bit until he saw a few of the people doing a few gestures of their own.

Gaara was making an eye of sand to see through.

Neji had activated his byakugan

Sasuke did the same with his sharingan.

Naruto noticed that a fly landed on one of the test papers, 'Probably a partner for Shino.'

Tenten seemed to be using some mirrors she hooked around the light with nearly invisible wire.

Naruto then noticed Haku with his left hand in a seal. He then saw a mirror form above Haku's head and another form above the head of the guy Naruto's cheating victim. 'That's certainly an interesting ability,' he thought to himself.

During that time another team had failed.

Naruto can't say that he saw everyone's method for cheating, like Kiba for instance, but he saw quite a few, and he was certainly impressed by how well everyone was doing.

Naruto wasn't the only one who was impressed, it took quite a bit of Ibiki's analytical abilities to figure out the methods that some of them used. So far the only ones he couldn't figure out were the bandaged Oto genin, Shino, Haku and Naruto. Ibiki looked around and saw that some of the chuunin were a tad flustered as well, some even looked ready to scream out and just ask how the genin were cheating.

Ibiki could only smile as he thought to himself, 'This is quite a batch of genin we have this time around.'

After several minutes had passed Ibiki looked at the clock and said, "Alright, I will now give the tenth question."

Nearly everyone was tense.

"Before I give out the question, there are some special rules for this question," Ibiki told them.

The door was opened to reveal Kankuro and the examiner that had taken him to the lavatory earlier.

"You're lucky," Ibiki said with a smirk. "Your puppet show didn't go to waste."

This got Kankuro to get nervous.

Naruto had already been aware that the judge was a fake just from the numbers, there were twelve chuunin examiners and Ibiki, a thirteenth one was suspcious unless it was a puppet. He noticed that the other examiners had taken note of it, but didn't really act on it, which made him think that although Kankuro did cheat and add another examiner, unless they knew about puppetry, which was rare in Konoha, then they wouldn't expose him. Although Ibiki himself noticed, he didn't care, because he proved himself as a useful shinobi in that department.

"Now sit down," Ibiki told him.

Kankuro did as he was told but not before passing his sister and subtly dropping something in front of her on the desk.

"I will now explain the rules of this question," Ibiki told them. "This rule will determine your future as a shinobi."

Nearly everyone was tense, Naruto was slightly nervous himself, but he kept a cool facade. Though something was irking him slightly and the mood didn't help.

"First, you will choose whether or not you will take the tenth question," Ibiki said to them.

"What will happen if we choose not to take the question?" Temari asked, a tad confused about this rule.

"If you choose not to take it, your points will be reduced to zero," Ibiki explained. "In other words, you fail, and if you fail so do your team mates," he finished with a sadistic grin.

"And the second rule," Ibiki paused for emphasis.

And the atmosphere tensed even more.

"If you take the question and get it wrong," Ibiki told them. "You will permanently lose the priviledge to take the Chuunin Exam."

Everyone was sweating at this rule.

"What kind of rule is that? There are people here who have taken the Chuunin Exam before," Kiba yelled out while pointing his finger. Akamaru barked on his head in agreement.

Ibiki just started laughing, "It was just your misfortune that you got me as your proctor for this part of the exam, because during this part _I_ make the rules." Ibiki paused to let it set in. "This is why I gave the option of not taking it, those who aren't confident enough in their abilities choose not to take the question, therefore allowing themselves to take the exam next time."

Most were sweating up a storm now. The only calm ones were Naruto, Gaara, Shino and Haku.

Naruto focusing on keeping his breathing calm while he thought about what Ibiki was saying, although something was still irking him, and it was gradually getting worse, 'Why would he give us this option of quitting only to threaten us with the possibility of remaining genin? This makes me think of Kakashi-sensei's bell test in that he pitted everyone against one another to see if they can uncover the hidden truth. Perhaps he wants to see if we have the courage to take the test.'

Naruto was looking around the room. It appeared that nearly everyone was seriously nervous. And it was at that moment that Naruto realized what was irking him, he just decided to steel his will and crossed his legs and arms with a straight face.

"We will now begin," Ibiki told them. "Those who will not be taking the tenth question, raise your hands. After we've confirmed, you and your team may leave."

Naruto was gritting his teeth at this point, but he needed to keep himself in control.

A hand was raised, more specifically this was the hand of the person to Naruto's immediate left.

"I quit, I can't risk this," the genin said.

"Number 50, fails," one of the proctors says. "Number 130 and 111 fail as well."

"Sumanai, Gennai, Inaho," the genin said.

The team mates of said genin stood up and left the room alongside their team mate.

With that more people started to raise their hands.

Naruto gritted his teeth even more as he thought while shaking, 'This is ridiculous.'

After about a minute or so no one was raising their hands.

'Oh, that's it,' Naruto shot his hand up.

Ibiki just raise one eyebrow and asked, "Oh, are you giving up as well?"

Naruto just slammed his fist on the desk and said, "Like hell I am, I just need to use the restroom."

The effect was almost instantaneous as nearly everyone either face faulted or sweat dropped.

Most of the Rookie 9 were thinking, 'Typical Naruto.'

Ibiki himself was almost laughing until he realized Naruto was being serious about having to use the restroom. The proctor then signaled one of the chuunin examiners to escort Naruto to the lavatory.

Naruto just bowed to Ibiki and said in a grateful voice, "Arigatou."

When Naruto and the chuunin walked out the door, Naruto just said, "I know where the restrooms are located, just follow and keep tabs, ano, what's your name anyway?"

"Hagane Koutetsu," the chuunin with hair over his right eye said.

"Yosh, Koutetsu-san," Naruto said as he ran to where he knew the third floor latrines were.

When Naruto went to the urinal he started talking to the chuunin, "That was a nice trick you and that other examiner did on the second floor before the exam, Koutetsu-san."

"I'm surprised you recognized me, Naruto-san," Koutetsu said while smiling a bit.

"You appearance isn't all that memorable, no offense Koutetsu-san," Naruto said as he shook out the rest of the waste. He zipped up his fly. "Everyone has their own unique scents among them, and I just happen to recognize yours from the second floor," he explained as he walked over to the sink and washed his hands.

The chuunin nodded as he asked, "There is one thing that's been bothering me, Naruto-san."

Naruto dried his hands as he moved his head in a gesture that specified he was listening.

"How did you get your answers for the test?" Koutetsu finally asked.

"Is this off the record?" Naruto asked.

"That's for you to decide, I'm just asking out of curiosity," Koutetsu admitted.

Naruto just shrugged, figuring if he wanted to fail Naruto for cheating, he would have done so already, "I got lucky in my positioning, the Hyuuga that sits next to me is a classmate of mine, she's also a training and sparring partner as well as a good friend, I just had her indicate who held the answers. After I knew, all I had to do was use a kage bunshin and a henge."

Koutetsu just nodded, "Very clever, what kind of indications did you use?"

"Now what kind of shinobi would I be if I revealed all of my secrets?" Naruto asked with a smirk.

Koutetsu chuckled but couldn't help but agree that Naruto was entitled to his secrets.

They entered the room, well, Naruto kicked the door open and yelled, "Ahhh, much better, and don't worry, I washed my hands."

This got different reactions from most people.

Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba and Hinata chuckled as he walked over to his seat and sat back down. Temari and Kankuro as well as most of the others just sweat dropped as Naruto's remark.

'He's erased all of the tension in the room, and he did so before he left, I managed to get some back, but the moment he kicked the door open I knew I was beaten,' Ibiki thought with a smirk. "I'll ask once more. Your choice will impact your life. Are you sure you want to take that risk?"

Naruto just smirked. "I didn't raise my hand earlier to quit, did I?" he asked rhetorically.

'With this, I acknowledge my loss,' Ibiki smiled. 'Eighty-four genin, more than I expected. Waiting any longer is just a waste of time.'

Ibiki looked to the chuunin examiners and a few nodded to him, he nodded back and faced the genin.

"You all have good determination," the proctor told them. "And with this, I'd like to congratulate all of you for passing the first part of this exam."

Naruto just smirked, 'I thought so.'

"Hold on, what about the tenth question?" Sakura stood up and asked.

"There was no tenth question," Ibiki said with a grin. "That was a bluff to see if you were willing to risk it all. In a way you could consider that the tenth question."

"Oi, what about the first nine questions, was that just a waste of time?" Temari demanded.

"Of course not, the purpose of the nine questions was fulfilled," the proctor explained. "The questions were set to test how well you each could gather information."

"Gathering information?" Temari asked.

"First, this test's purpose in the first rule, your decision is based on your three person teams," Ibiki explained. "By saying that your points are based on the total points of the team, the pressure was placed on your shoulders that you had to pass for the sake of your team."

Naruto just nodded, "I figured as much."

"But the tests questions given to you can't be solved by normal genin, so the only option was to cheat," Ibiki explained. "So we pretty much expected everyone to cheat. So we snuck in two chuunins who knew the answers to be obvious targets for cheating."

Naruto just smirked as he looked a Hinata with a nod.

The Hyuuga just blushed at Naruto's acknowledgement.

"Of course, those who didn't cheat well were caught and failed," Ibiki explained as he took off his hitae-ate, showing the genin the scars he hid. "The reason for this is that information could mean the difference between life and death, if someone is given the wrong information, that could cost them their lives, the mission, or even their entire village."

This got quite a few gasps from nearly everyone in the room.

Once again, Naruto didn't flinch because he knew that this was the world they lived in, and he knew that sometimes, people would go to any means to get what they wanted.

Ibiki put the cloth back on his head, "Quite a few people would put this kind of physical torture on someone if it meant gaining the information they needed, or wanted." The proctor paused for a bit then continued, "We tested everyone here to see if you could cheat well so you could gather information, we removed those that couldn't do so."

"Then what was the purpose of the tenth question?" Temari asked.

"The tenth question was the main reason of this part of the exam," Ibiki explained.

"And what reason was that?" Sakura asked.

"The tenth question was your choice as to whether or not you should take the question," Ibiki told them. "It was a choice that was bad no matter which of the two choices you made. Those who chose not to take it, failed along with their team mates. If you chose to take it and couldn't answer it, your priviledge to take the exam again would have been permanently revoked. It was evil no matter which one you chose."

Everyone else was thinking about this.

Ibiki then explained a scenario to them. He then questioned whether or not you would take a dangerous mission with so many unknown variables, could you decline such a mission. He then explained that the answer was no. He explained that some missions are unavoidable, despite the heavy risks involved. He explained the need to show courage when the time is right and the ability to get through bad situations are what traits that make up a chuunin. "As a chuunin, you can't give up when things get difficult, otherwise your entire squad could very well lose their lives. My belief is that only those who have a heavy determination are ones that deserve the title of chuunin. You chose to take a difficult question even with such high stake, and that was the right decision, you have all passed this first exam, with that this first part of the exam ends. You have my wish of luck," Ibiki told them.

Naruto just smirked as he said, "Live in my shoes and you'll know what psychological torture is really about."

Ibiki just thought, 'Interesting guy.' He then looked to his right.

A black object crashed through the window and landed in front of Ibiki. Three kunai were shot out and pinned to the ceiling as Anko was revealed with a black flag that read, _The Second Examiner, Mitarashi Anko is here._ "I am the Second Proctor, Mitarashi Anko. Let's go the the next exam." She then shot her hand in the air, "Follow me."

All of the genin were just looking at her with an odd looks.

Ibiki stepped partially from behind Anko's flag and said, "Grasp the atmosphere."

Anko just had a scowl on her face at that statement.

Sakura just thought, 'Her personality is like Naruto's.'

"Eighty-four, Ibiki, you let twenty-eight teams pass?" Anko asked. "Your exam must have been too easy."

"Or we have a few exceptional genin this year," the interrogation expert countered.

"Well, whatever, more than half are gonna fail in my part of the exam," Anko declared.

Some were looking in surprise.

"The next exam will start tomorrow in another location, ask your jounin sensei about the location and time. I'll explain when you get there, and anyone who is late will be an automatic disqualification, and with that, you are dismissed," she told them.

Later that day...

Ibiki was gathering the papers when he saw what was written on Naruto's, he then looked at the on next to it and read the name. He just chuckled at the genin's luck and thought,'Uzumaki Naruto was sitting by a friend the whole time and she told him where to get the answers from, he certainly knows how to press an advantage when he has one. You are certainly and interesting character.'

That night...

He was running through the night, smelling the air, trying to find one scent. He sees the one he seeks, a fox with crimson fur and nine tails.

"So you have come, at last," the fox said as its form shifted into that of a human with blond hair, blue eyes and three whisker marks on each cheek.

"We will finally have our battle," the being said.

"Be it in our original forms, or through our vessels," the fox said as they started to clash.

That's when Sasuke woke up. He held his head as he thought to himself, 'That dream again, the full moon is tomorrow.'

He looked at the clock and it said 4:00 am. 'I'm not getting any more sleep tonight.'

That was all Sasuke thought as he got out of bed to get ready for the day. He decided to work on his elemental chakra control for the duration.

One thought kept recurring with him while he was training, 'What does that dream mean?'

* * *

End of Chapter...

I can't help this, I'm still on fire when it comes to ideas. What does Sasuke's dream mean, and why does it happen close to the full moon? Only I have the answers, or maybe I haven't even thought of all the answers. I leave it for you, the readers to decide. Anyway, Read & Review


	12. Chapter 11: New Enemies and Abilities

**The Eye of the Beholder**

_Review Replies: Still no reviews that really put much into detail that are worth replying to, and no offense to those who review at all. I__'d just like to actually use this section more often_

"Talking"

'Thinking'

_Flashback_

**Demons and Higher Beings**

**Disclaimer: I don****'t own Naruto.**

Chapter 11: New Enemies and Abilities

* * *

Everyone was approaching a massive forest with a high fence around it. They were all surprised at the sheer magnitude of the tree sizes.

"Everyone, welcome to Training Area 44, code names, Shi no Mori," Anko announced to the group.

Sakura just thought aloud, "This place seems creepy."

Anko just smirked, "During this part of the exam, you'll learn why this place earned its name."

"I'm sure we will, you crazy snake lady," Naruto remarked to her. "Remember this, you will only feel fear if you let it take a hold of you."

Anko just smirked and said, "Oh? You sure have a lot of energy." She then threw a kunai towards Naruto.

Not thinking about it for the second time during this exam, Naruto caught another kunai through reflex alone.

Anko then got right behind Naruto only to be a tad surprised to find that he had turned around and held her kunai.

"I'll commend you for your skill, but my reflexes have been honed quite a bit for the past few weeks, I'm probably at high chuunin at the moment, but I can't be too sure," Naruto admitted. "And as for the snake comment, well, your scent says it all."

Anko's first thought as she took her kunai back was, 'Who is this kid?' Then she smirked and said, "Maybe this portion of the exam will be interesting."

"And maybe after the exam, there will still be quite a few people that call me stupid," Naruto commented. "But I will say this, to run from your enemies is to show them fear, and never should you show fear to your enemy because in the end fear is something your enemy can exploit. And never believe yourself to be invincible, only train yourself to be as close to invincible as possible."

"Where are you getting these saying?" Anko asked.

"Our sensei has been teaching him a few necessary things since we got back from a mission," Sasuke explained. "In the end, he just can't help but repeat some of the things that's been told to us."

"Well, whatever," Anko shrugged as she walked in front of the group once more. "Anyway, before we begin, I have these consent form, you must sign them and turn it in to be able to continue the exam. To sign these forms means you understand the risks from here on out and therefore Konoha cannot be held accountable for any deaths."

Naruto took the forms from the proctor, took out three for his team and passed the rest to the next team.

"I will now explain the second part of the exam," Anko spoke again. "This will be an extreme survival exercise where anything goes. The forest is twenty kilometers in diameter, meaning the fence circles around the forest, there are forty-four gates around the perimeter of the forest. There is a river that runs straight through the forest and a tower directly in the center of the forest. There are two scrolls that you must have to pass this portion of the exam, half of the people here will receive a ten scroll while the other half will receive an chi scroll. You will only receive your scroll when you turn in the consent forms of your team and only one for your team. Twenty-eight teams passed, only a maximum of fourteen will pass because you need both a ten and chi scroll to do so."

"What other conditions are needed?" Sasuke asked, curious about this part.

"You need to reach the tower with both scrolls and your team mates still alive," the proctor explained. "You have a time limit as well, you must reach the tower with both scrolls and your living team mates within one hundred twenty hours, that's five days to the minute."

"Five days!?" Ino asked.

"What about food?" Chouji complained.

"It's a forest, there are quite a few edible thing in here," Anko waved off their complaints.

"Can we quit midway through the exam?" Shikamaru asked with a raised hand.

"Iie, this isn't a part of the exam you can just retreat from if you enter, your in there for the five day duration," Anko answered.

"Mendokuse," Shikamaru commented.

"Now failure conditions are as such," the proctor held up one finger. "1: A team that cannot bring both scrolls to the tower with both team mates within the time limit will fail," she held up two fingers. "2: If you lose a team mate or said team mate is mortally wounded, you fail. Also you aren't allowed to open either of the scrolls until you enter the tower."

"What happens if you open the scroll if you haven't reached the tower?" Naruto asked, he honestly didn't know

"Find out for yourself," Anko told him with a grin. "As a chuunin you will be expected to handle top secret documents, under quite a few circumstances you will not be allowed to look at said documents, call this a test of faith," the proctor told all of them. She then pointed to the three chuunin sitting at a table next to the gate, "You will be turning in your consent forms to those chuunin for your scrolls." Anko sighed and said, "And one last piece of advice, don't die."

Naruto signaled his team for a huddle.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked.

"I have a very interesting idea," Naruto told them and explained said idea.

Needless to say, his team mates were very satisfied with his plan. Although the idea itself wasn't original, it was so simple that no one else would probably think of it.

When it was time to turn in their scrolls they walked over to the booth behind the curtain and handed them their consent form, to which they received a ten scroll.

Team 7 then went to their designated gate and waited for the signal to enter.

When the gates opened all the chuunin hopefuls rushed through.

Around five minutes into the exam, Team 7 stopped for a bit throught Naruto's suggestion.

"What's up?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto just grinned sheepishly, "I gotta pee." And with that the blonde genin ran out of view.

After about a minute Naruto stepped out and said, "Few, I peed a lot."

"Geez, you'd think that sensei would have drilled some manners into you alongside politics," Sakura commented with an annoyed expression.

"I have enough manners as is, so sensei doesn't need to do that," the blond replied.

Sasuke and Sakura both narrowed their eyes at this comment.

Sakura then took note of another thing out of place and walked over, "Say, Naruto."

"Hai?" Naruto asked, curious about what Sakura wanted. What he didn't expect was Sakura to give him a hard right to the face.

"Heh, so you noticed as well," Sasuke spoke out.

"Why wouldn't I? The guy doesn't get anything," Sakura said.

"What's up, why are you looking at me like that?" Naruto asked.

"Because the first thing about a henge is executing the tranformation perfectly, you only did it like you were looking in a mirror," Sasuke told him. "Your kunai holster is on your left leg, Naruto is right handed."

"You also don't know a thing about Naruto, for instance, the one that teaches Naruto politics, he doesn't refer to as sensei," Sakura informed him.

"That's good to know," the fake Naruto said as he dispelled his henge and revealed himself to be an Ame shinobi. "Now surrender your scroll or die," the guy said as he pulled out a kunai.

Sasuke just shrugged and pulled out the ten scroll he was carrying.

The Ame genin just looked at the scroll and cursed.

"I take it you're in the exact same boat as us?" Sasuke said as he put the scroll away.

"Ah," the Ame genin replied.

"That's good to know," Sasuke said as he crossed his arms.

"Well, whatever, it's always good to get rid of the competition," the Ame genin said as he was about to rush forward, only to black out completely.

"So that's why you wanted us to stop," Sasuke said to Naruto, who had just knocked out the genin.

"Actually, I really did have to go, I just happened to smell them nearby so I decided to see if I could get the jump on them," Naruto told his team. "And the nerve of them, attacking while I was pissing, which apparently made them attack more aggresively for some reason. They tied me up and sent their team mate after you two. The surprise worked like a charm."

"I take it you got their scroll?" Sasuke asked.

"Got it safely hidden in a separate location than the first," Naruto admitted. "Maybe if we find an ally with an extra chi scroll we can make an exchange." He moved closer to Sasuke and whispered, "Good thing Kaitou-ji had us working on elemental chakra or I wouldn't have been able to cut myself loose so quickly."

Sasuke then pulled his team mates closer and said, "Listen, we need to be able to identify one another after we get separated."

"Okay, me identifying you two won't be a problem, it's the other way around that might cause some trouble," Naruto then pointed to his nose. "If you can positively identify me I can knock off any other doubt."

"Good point, I'll make some form of questions that only we and a select few would know, and don't tell us what they are," Sasuke said as he thought about what Naruto would be able to answer. He thought about the academy and then the bell test, finally he thought about the wave mission and a serious grin appeared on his face.

"So you've got a good one?" Naruto asked.

"Oh yeah," Sasuke replied.

Team 7 started jumping through the forest when Naruto stopped.

"What is it now?" Sasuke asked.

"There's an unnatural smell of snake in the air," Naruto said in a low, menacing voice. He then felt a disturbance and said, "Get out of the way."

They moved just in time as a heavy gust blew Naruto, who stuck for a bit, but was ultimately blown away from his team mates.

Sasuke was a little disoriented, but okay. He then caught sight of Sakura and asked, "Sakura, what did Naruto call our unexpected guest during our mission to Nami no Kuni?"

"Which one?" Sakura asked.

"The second one," Sasuke replied.

"Taka-aniki," Sakura answered.

Naruto came into sight and said, "Yo."

"Naruto, what did you call our second unexpected guest during our mission in Nami no Kuni?" Sasuke asked again.

This really confused Sakura, because if that wasn't Naruto he could have just as easily listened to Sakura while she said the answer.

"Taka-aniki," Naruto replied.

"Now why do you call him that?" Sasuke said.

"Because he seemed like a hawk, his eyes were always scouting his prey, and when he sees the right moment he swoops in and goes in for the kill," Naruto replied with a thoughtful look.

"A very good description of how he got things done, but that's not why Naruto calls him Taka-aniki," Sasuke said with a smirk as he threw several shuriken. "If anyone would know the answer to that question other than Naruto himself, it would be me."

The genin moved out of the way in a manner unlike Naruto. "Very interesting, and what would the answer to that question be?" the Kusa genin asked as she dispelled her henge.

"Like I'm stupid enough to answer that question," Sasuke replied with a smirk.

The Kusa genin just smirked and pulled out her chi scroll.

Sasuke widened his stance while Sakura started making seals.

The Kusa nin then held one end of the scroll over her mouth.

This was when Sasuke made his move and the genin grabbed Sakura's arm and hurled her at the Kusa genin right as she stuck her hands on the ground.

The Kusa genin was surprised by Sasuke's disregard for his team mate, but countered none the less, only to be surprised when Sakura burst into smoke, to be replaced by a log. The Kusa nin was not fooled however, as she countered once again right when Sakura's hand grasped the scroll, only to be surprised once again when Sakura burst into smoke, with nothing left as the smoke dispersed.

The Kusa nin just smirked, "So you know the kage bunshin? That'll certainly make things interesting." She then let out a heavy amount of pressure.

The Konoha genin were on their knees, seeing their deaths as they recognized this pressure as killing intent. They looked like they were about to vomit.

The Kusa genin just smirked as she approached the duo only to be surprised once more when Sasuke threw three shuriken

Sasuke went threw a few handseals and three shuriken became fifteen.

Although a tad surprised with Sasuke's acting, she maneuvered through them, she was clipped on the skin a few times. What really surprised the Kusa genin was that the spots that the shuriken cut started to burn. It took the Kusa genin half a second before she chuckled, "Interesting, it appears I've underestimated you, Sasuke-kun. You used Katon chakra within your shuriken to inflict more damage than initially expected, which increased with your shuriken kage bunshin."

"A little trick taught to me by a sensei," Sasuke replied as he stood up, facing the Kusa nin defiantly.

"And your ability to withstand my killing intent is certainly worth meriting," the Kusa genin commented.

"You don't know the half of what we can take," Sasuke replied.

"Then let's find out," the Kusa genin said as she bit her thumb and went into a few seals. "Kuchiyose no jutsu," and with that a giant snake appeared. The Kusa genin smirked at their expressions.

The snake charged, but momentarily halted when a kunai landed in front of Sasuke and Sakura.

With Naruto...

"Man, that's smarts, whoever used that technique knew what they were doing," Naruto commented as he sniffed the air. "A distinct smell of snake, and a heavy amount of it at that." He then heard some shifting. Naruto turned to come face to face with an unnaturally sized snake. "Okay, why the hell is summoning here?"

The snake didn't respond as it charged at Naruto.

Naruto himself dodged and started gathering futon chakra.

The snake then swiped its tail and coiled around Naruto.

Naruto was squirming, trying to get free when snake opened its mouth wide, only to be sliced apart in several places.

Naruto just smirked as he said, "Damned if I couldn't keep focus." He examined the remains before they poofed out of existence and said, "Now this isn't something normal, I heard that there were only two snake summoners and I doubt the proctor hates me. Even if she did, I doubt it would be enough to merit something of this magnitude. Looks like Ero-sennin's team mate is here." With that Naruto leapt off, following the scent of his team.

Naruto reached the area that his team was battling the Kusa genin, or what appeared to be a Kusa genin. He saw the nin summon a giant snake, which confirmed his suspicions. As the snake charged, Naruto threw a kunai right in front of his team.

"Yo, Sasuke, what's your question, although, in this case, it's probably useless, though I think Ero-sennin might commend you on something well thought out," Naruto said as he leapt to his two team mates.

The only thought going through Sasuke's and Sakura's heads were, 'That's definitely Naruto.'

Naruto landed in front of his team as he said, "Sasuke, use as much of an advantage as you can, this guy's tough. Sakura-chan, how far has your special training progressed?"

"It takes me a few seconds to focus properly," Sakura admitted.

"THEN FOCUS ALREADY," Naruto shouted at her. "We need every advantage we can get, this guy is at Ero-sennin's level."

"I was wondering who this Ero-sennin was, but you seem to be able to judge your opponents well, Naruto-kun," the Kusa nin admitted with a smirk.

"You act like you know who this guy is, Naruto," Sasuke said.

"I do," Naruto answered. "There are only two snake summoners in the recorded shinobi world that are alive today, and since I seriously doubt that the proctor for this part of the exam would go this far to test us, the only logical answer is that it's the Hebi Sannin, Orochimaru. And apparently he knows who Ero-sennin is now."

"You certainly gave Jiraiya a fitting nickname, Naruto-kun," the now revealed sannin, admitted as he pulled the face of the Kusa genin to reveal an only and more intimidating shinobi with snake-like eyes. "And you certainly live up to your father's genius capabilities," the sannin commented.

Naruto just looked at the sannin with a glare, "Don't you even go there."

The sannin just smirked, "So it appears you know. I can honestly say it was a shame that he died, and how as well, I had nothing to do with it, but I would have loved to have done the job myself."

Naruto just gritted his teeth.

"Naruto, what's he talking about?" Sakura asked curiously, losing focus.

Sasuke just nodded as well, curious about what the sannin was saying.

"Oh, so you haven't told them anything at all, I would've expected better from the nephew of my best student," the sannin just continued to push Naruto's buttons.

"Shut up," Naruto said, he clenched and unclenched his fists as his voice became slightly scratchier.

"What does Kaitou-sensei have to do with anything?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Sakura, you have a high capacity for knowledge, but apparently not so much for common sense," Sasuke commented with serious annoyance.

"So he _is_ back in Konoha, that might be a tad troubling, but not that much," the sannin smirked.

"And what of it?" Naruto replied, keeping up a strong front.

"Nothing really, he was truly like his brother in that aspect, I'm sure your team is dieing to know who your father is," Orochimaru commented again, smirking at the reaction he was getting from Naruto.

"Shut Up!" Naruto demanded again, his canines sharpening along with his nail and his eyes slitting while remaining blue and his birthmarks on his cheeks widening while growing darker.

Sasuke and Sakura just looked at Naruto, wondering why the sannin's words were getting to him.

"So you don't want them to know, maybe I should just tell another one of your secrets," the sannin said, once again taunting Naruto.

This had the desired effect as Naruto shouted out, "**I SAID SHUT UP!!!**" A feral Naruto then charged the sannin, going for his blood. Sinister chakra was seeping from him as he swiped his claw-like hands at the enemy.

Orochimaru just smirked as he parried and deflected each of Naruto's attacks.

Sasuke and Sakura were just wondering where Naruto was getting this power and what Orochimaru knew that could rile Naruto up this badly. From what they remember of Naruto due to recent events and circumstances, he's become a great deal cooler in the head and not so easy to tick off like this. This must be one hell of a secret to get Naruto after someone's blood like this.

Orochimaru just smirked as he punched Naruto downward to the ground, hard.

It took Naruto a few seconds to recover, but that was all the sannin needed. Naruto then felt something wet and slick wrapping around his shoulders, arms and torso.

Orochimaru lifted Naruto into the air with his tongue and used the end to lift Naruto's shirt. "So this is the seal," the snake sannin commented as purple flames started appearing on the fingers and thumb of his right hand. "I can't have you interfering, Gougyo Fuuin," he said and rammed the flames onto the seal on Naruto's stomach.

Naruto suddenly felt weaker, but he still managed to stay conscious as he fell, which Sasuke jumped to catch him.

Noticing Naruto was still awake, Sasuke said, "We'll discuss this later."

Naruto nodded as he was placed in the care of the female of his team.

Sakura was doing a basic look over to see if there was anything wrong with Naruto. She just sighed in relief, "Good, there's nothing serious, although I have no clue what the man did to you."

"Sakura-chan, it's not what he did to me, it's what he'll do to Sasuke that alarms me, I don't know much, but Orochimaru is obviously toying with him, probably measuring Sasuke's abilities, he needs help, I'll be fine, show him what you can do with your doton chakra," Naruto told his team mate.

Although Sakura wanted to reply, she couldn't argue with Naruto's logic as she ran out to help Sasuke. A thought occured to her and she made a kage bunshin.

Sasuke looked like he was fairing well with his sharingan active, he knew his opponent was just playing around, and Sasuke intended to take full advantage.

"Katon: Housenka no jutsu," he said as he spit out a few fire balls at his opponent.

"Like that will work," the sannin said as he blew out the flames, only to be surprised buy the shuriken in the fireballs. Orochimaru just smirked as the shuriken just passed him.

Sasuke himself smirked as he moved the wires attached to said shuriken and wrapped Orochimaru to a tree right behind him. He then put the ends of the wires in his mouth and went through a set of handsigns. "Katon: Ryuuka no jutsu," he said and a dragon shaped flame was blown out of his mouth and straight down the wires and engulfed Orochimaru. Sasuke took the wires out of his mouth as the flames died down, hewas panting heavily. Sasuke knew that the likeliness of Orochimaru dieing from that attack were very low. His thought were confirmed when the sannin melted into mud.

"Very impressive, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said as he smirked. "I have a gift for you," and with that the sannin extended his neck.

Had the hebi sannin been paying attention he would have noticed that Sakura had hugged Sasuke tightly and that a kage bunshin was standing behind them. Due to the sannin's lack of attention to detail and Sakura's special ability, he was about to bite Sasuke, but his head went right through him and Sakura and was slashed across the face by Sakura's kage bunshin attacking right through them.

Orochimaru had no clue whether he should be pissed or intrigued by this turn of events. He decided to amp up his killing intent and see how they fair, the sannin wasn't disappointed as both froze up, and this time they weren't acting.

Naruto had been watching throughout the entire scenario and his only thoughts were, 'Dammit, I can't help, I can't access the fox's chakra and it's disrupting my own abilities, I don't know what Orochimaru is about to do, and I doubt Sakura-chan will survive unless I can do something, dammit, dammit dammit, I need to stop this mad man.' These were his thoughts had he stood up through sheer will power and walked towards his team. 'I can't help, but I have to, I need the power to help them, I need to save my friends,' and then, some unknown force hit the hebi sannin, knocking him into the tree behind him.

"What was that?" Orochimaru questioned as he looked around and saw Naruto slowly walking towards his team, Naruto just passed out right then. He tried to look closer as he saw that Naruto's eyes seemed to be more violet than blue. 'His eyes look similar to Pein's, but it couldn't be,' Orochimaru thought as he extended his neck and bit down on the left side of Sasuke's neck. He then poofed away as he thought, 'I'll have to keep my eyes on those three, they're a great deal trickier than I had first anticipated. And probably a whole lot more interesting.'

A mark appeared on Sasuke's neck near where he was bitten. The Uchiha passed out from exhaustion.

Sakura, concerned for her team mates, picked them up and jumped over to another location to seek shelter. Better to hide in a place with only one opening.

Later that evening...

The moon was high as a creature looked up and howl. It sniffed the air, tracking down the scent of fox. It reaching where the scent was coming from and stood on top of a giant hollowed tree stump. The creature sniffed the air, **'A strong kitsune scent here, and it****'s below.'** The creature was wolf-like, its fur was gray with a long nose, it stood upright on its hind legs with its front paws had dextrous digits including thumbs. The creature stood around six feet in height with eleven scars covering his body, two on each arm, four on his body, one on each leg and one going down his face across the bridge of his nose starting from the left of his forehead and ending on his right cheek. The creature jumped down in front of the opening to the stump. It sniffed the air and thought to itself, **'Three scents, burning wood, sakura blossoms, and the fox smell.****'** The creature sniffed again and thought with a smirk, **'A strong scent of ramen as well, whoever has that scent certainly has good tastes.****'** The creature looked around and identified each and every trap around and avoided them as such. The creature walked into the hollowed stump and saw what seemed like a frightened girl.** "You've no need to fear me," **the creature said as he examined her.

Sakura seemed frightened, but that didn't mean that the circumstances didn't take their toll as she was close to falling asleep. Despite her fightened state, she seemed determined to keep the creature away from the two males accompanying her.

'**How she lasted this long is beyond me,****'** the creature said as he moved fast and grabbed her neck from behind and squeezed.

Sakura's reaction was instantaneous as she passed out.

'**She certainly has courage, like a mother protecting her cubs, or one protecting their mate. Anyway that rest should allow her to have more strength later on,****'** the creature thought as he sniffed around. It looked to Naruto and sniffed, **'Traces of youkai, but it****'s being forcefully restrained, like the order it goes through isn't being properly maintained.'** It held its hand at Naruto's face, then descended to his chest and reached Naruto's stomach, **'So that****'s where the youkai is released.'** The creature lifted Naruto's shirt and molded a bit of its youkai to reveal the seal on Naruto's navel. Then another seal was revealed a few seconds afterwards. **'I might be able to weaken the extra seal on this kid to help, but I can****'t remove it completely without risking destroying the kid or the demon within.'** With that the creature pushed some of its own youkai into the seal to help it out. **'That****'s all I can do for now.'** The creature then walked over to Sasuke and sniffed, the creature growled, **'There****'s there's a taint in his chakra, I can help here, but I have to go inside and keep it under control until a seal is set to keep him stable. I can't destroy the taint completely without destroying his and, therefore, myself unless I'm permanently bound to him as a host. Should I do this?'** The creature thought to himself.

"The full moon is tonight," Sasuke mumbled to himself.

'**He can tell?****'** the creature thought.

"Why am I confronting a fox that turns into Naruto?" Sasuke questioned in his sleep.

'**Fox,****'** the creature thought. **'Could it be fate that brought me here? Then again circumstances have certainly been strange for the past thirteen years, I think I****'ll take my chances with this boy, this body is at its limit anyway.'** And with that final thought, the creature leaned over and bit Sasuke on his shoulder, close to where Orochimaru bit him. The creature then started to pour all of its power into the young body. '**If you can take my power, use it, if not, we****'re both screwed,'** and his subconscious was transferred into Sasuke as well.

The body of the creature started to walk away as it was starting to decay and walked towards a random direction, falling off the platform.

* * *

Omake: Kaitou's Problem

"The rules of this competition are simple, it will be a race to the Hokage monument and back," Gai said as he held his fist up with energy. "If I cannot win, I'll do seven hundred laps around Konoha," he said with his thumb up in front of him.

Kaitou just waved as he said, "Hai, hai."

Gai just walked over to the designated starting point.

"Kakashi, you start us," Kaitou said as he followed Gai.

The masked jounin nodded as he held his left hand up, his right holding his book. When he saw that both were at the starting point and paying attention he let his hand down and he felt a gust as Gai passed him. "Hmm, the wind should have been stronger than that," he thought aloud as he looked away only to see that Kaitou was face down on the ground, and it didn't look like he was moving anytime soon. Kakashi walked over to the man and flipped him on his back and what he saw just made him sweat drop. He snapped his fingers, only to get no response.

Kaitou fell asleep right after the race started.

'Apparently, he still has his problem with complacency,' Kakashi thought to himself as he tried to pick the man up. 'Naruto wasn't joking about how much weight he carries. I'll get Gai to help when he gets back.'

After about thirty minutes Gai ran back and declared, "I am victorious!!!" with as much enthusiasm as he could.

"This is an empty victory, Kaitou-san fell asleep right after the race started, so the competition is off for now," Kakashi told the bowl cut jounin.

Gai looked at Kaitou and confirmed that he was, indeed, asleep. "Does this happen often?" he asked.

"Actually, he's a narcoleptic during feelings of complacency," Kakashi admitted to the jounin.

"What does that mean?" Gai asked.

"It means his narcolepsy only happens when he truly feels complacent. I was hoping that he had gotten over this problem," Kakashi replied as he walked over to Kaitou, who was still sleeping. "Help me carry him to Naruto's apartment, he's too heavy for me alone with all his equipment," the masked jounin said.

"Yosh, if I can't carry him alongside you, I will do three thousand push ups on each arms and three thousand squats," Gai said as he helped Kakashi pick Naruto's relative up. Gai grunted and said, "You weren't kidding."

"You say something?" Kakashi asked, although grunting.

"Curse you and your hip attitude," Gai said as he left the weight for Kakashi to bear alone.

"Gai, the weight," Kakashi said, as he started to sweat.

"Oh, gomen," Gai said as he took back the support.

* * *

End of Chapter...

Some think that Kaitou is too perfect, well screw you the fact that he's should say that obviously there are some things about him that are very odd, including his narcolepsy. You'll have to find out what they are. And I hid a joke in there for anyone who wants to try and find it, maybe you'll get a cookie if you do. Anyway Read & Review.


	13. Chapter 12: Attempt at Corruption

**The Eye of the Beholder**

_Review Replies:_

_Still none :(_

"Talking"

'Thinking'

_Flashbacks and Notes_

**Demons and Higher beings**

**Disclaimer: I don****'t own Naruto.**

Chapter 12: Attempt at Corruption

* * *

Sakura woke up to the sounds of rustling. It tooke her a bit to get her bearings but after a bit her eyes widened. 'Why was I asleep? At least I was able to wake up before anyone found us,' she thought as she looked around. The kunoichi then noticed a squirrel moving forward, she suddenly threw a kunai and scared the squirrel away. She let out a sigh of relief, 'The squirrel almost set off one of my traps.'

Three shinobi were watching, wondering why she did that.

Several meters away Lee was looking around when he saw a bunch of leaves falling. With flames in his eyes he said to himself, "If I catch all twenty leaves before they hit the ground, Sakura-san will fall in love with me." And with that Lee jumped down and started catching the leaves, until it was down to one. Just as he was about to catch the final leaf, he saw a spark out of the side of his eyes. What he saw was a squirrel with sparks on its back writhing in pain from the heat. Lee simply ran over and removed and crushed the exploding tag that was on the squirrel's back. "Who would do such a cruel thing?" he asked to no one in particular.

Sakura was keeping a look out for any enemies. She turned around to see if her team mates were rousing from their sleep.

"Not sleeping, and being distracted for but a moment, that can cost you dearly," said a voice behind her.

The three Oto shinobi were standing several meters away from her.

Sakura just smirked as she turned around and said, "Only if I weren't well rested prior to your arrival. Now my team and I don't need any trouble."

"You won't get any if you comply," the bandaged one said.

"Before anything else, I need to know what to call you," Sakura told them.

"Dosu," the bandaged one said.

"Kin," the female replied.

"Zaku," the spikey-haired one told her.

"Fine then," Sakura replied as she walked out of the stump and over to them. "Although you seem to have the number advantage, I've been situated in this area for quite a few hours, so that gives me the tactical advantage. Now that we are currently established as being at an impasse, what do you want, other than a scroll?"

"We are here to take the life of one Uchiha Sasuke, and don't get in our way if you want to live," Zaku told her with serious confidence.

"Apparently you don't understand the concept of an impasse, that means we are currently at a stalemate, neither of us can make a move," Sakura told Zaku with a smirk.

"Zaku, don't underestimate your opponent, she's been here for hours, meaning she probably has quite a few traps set to go off at the flick of her wrist," Dosu said to his team mate.

Sakura pulled a kunai out and tossed it in one direction.

The results were instantaneous as several kunai and shuriken came from where she threw hers and across their vision and embedded themselves into a nearby tree.

"There's enough traps set here to give even a sannin a hard time," Sakura explained to them, she knew this was no exaggeration as she had Jiraiya personally test out how well she could place each trap and how many the sennin could handle. "Now I don't mind giving up a scroll, but any of my team mates are another story altogether. I'll try to negotiate this peacefully, but if you push, so help me I won't pull my punches."

Dosu examined the kunoichi to see if she was bluffing, she didn't seem like the fighter type, but then again despite her appearance she certainly surprised them when she demonstrated her physical capabilities to the Suna genin.

"How many of what scroll does your team carry?" Dosu asked carefully, trying to judge them properly.

"Two ten and one chi, we started out with a ten scroll," Sakura replied with a shrug.

"Kin, Zaku, this might be risking more than we can wager," Dosu told his team.

"I know what you mean, they were able to get two scrolls and not lose their own while still keeping everyone on their team alive," Kin thought aloud. "We might just be taking more than we can handle."

Dosu turned to Sakura and asked, "How much of assistance were you as far as obtaining the scrolls?"

"I only helped with one of them alongside Sasuke-kun while Naruto took out the full team for the other," Sakura replied to them.

"This increases our possibility of winning a bit, but we still don't know her level of strength," Dosu told them as he thought about this. "The question is, do we proceed or is the risk too high? I myself want to take care of Orochimaru-sama's mission as soon as possible so we can get back to the exam."

Kin stated her opinion, "I don't think doing this makes a difference if we get another shot later in the exam so I vote no."

"Let's do it now and get rid of them sooner," Zaku told him.

"I'm out voted, let's just get this over with," Kin said as everyone face toward Sakura.

Sakura saw them coming and the first thing se did was throw a kunai in their direction.

The three dodged, only to hear something snap. The Oto shinobi turned to find several kunai flying toward them at once.

"If that's the best you have, you better give up now," Dosu said to Sakura.

"Not even close," Sakura replied as she threw a shuriken in an upward slant behind her.

The results were a few logs attacking in random directions.

Kin was dodging as much as she could.

Zaku tried to blast a one, only for another to nearly hit him, so he started dodging as well.

Dosu punched one and made it erupt into splinters. The problem with this, however, is that he only has one gauntlet, so he would have quite a bit of difficulty doing things one at a time.

And throughout this entire situation, Sakura had not been injured once.

"Dammit, does she have absolutely no regard for her own safety?" Zaku said as the logs started to calm down.

"Either that, or she knows some very good dodging methods," Dosu said with a intrigued look.

"Do you concede?" Sakura asked with a smirk.

"Damn her, taking us lightly," Zaku said as he held is hands out and pointed them in the direction of the logs. "Zankuha," he said as a blast of air pressure was shot out of his hands.

"Such a heavy attack with such a lack of control, tsk tsk," Sakura mocked him. "Why exactly were you nominated for this exam again?"

"Why you..." Zaku said as he was about to attack again when Dosu held his hand in front of him.

"Don't, she's just egging you on," Dosu told him. "It's psychological warfare, she knows which buttons to push with you, mostly because you make those hits obvious. We need to proceed calmly if we want to succeed."

Zaku nodded and took a deep breath.

"Though I'm seriously wondering how many traps she set up," Kin thought aloud. "Is she really that confident in her abilities to dodge? And if so, how could she properly protect her team from where the trap attack? Especially if some of them attack from a random direction."

"Meaning, there's probably a safe zone specified, chances are it's where her team mates are lying, meaning if we get to the safe zone and kill Sasuke, we win," Dosu concluded with a few thoughts of his own.

"There's one other thing you have to take into consideration," Kin spoke again. "She hasn't fought us directly, using only traps that could kill her if she isn't careful, and we've seen that she's capable of defending herself, so she's probably trying to wear us down. Besides, I doubt she's gonna just let us attack her team, which is the main reason for the traps, so lets tred carefully."

Dosu and Zaku nodded as they started to run for her.

Sakura smirked again and threw a shuriken in another random direction, causing yet another trap to spring up.

Zaku and Dosu were prepared as Zaku put his hands up and blasted more air pressure at the incoming projectiles.

Sakura responded by picking up a falled kunai and throwing it to her right in an upward slant.

After a few seconds, Zaku and Dosu just looked at Sakura while Kin just smirked.

Kin held up the kunai Sakura threw, "I'm pretty sure your trap won't work."

Sakura just smirked as she said, "And I'm pretty sure that the wire to the trap I set off was cut before it even left my hand. Full heads up, watch out for falling rocks."

The three Oto genin looked up only to see several boulders falling down.

"Scatter," Dosu ordered as he himself moved around to be sure that he didn't get crushed. His gauntlet may be able to render one boulder to pebbles, but not as many as what was falling all at once.

As the falling rocks subsided, the three Oto genin were serious starting to wonder whether this task was worth the situation they were in. They were sweating heavily, none of them got through all of these traps unscathed, and, finally, Sakura herself didn't seem winded at all. How the hell did she keep dodging everything that she let loose, she should have been just as affected as them. She was standing on one of the fallen rocks.

Dosu decided to check one thing before jumping to conclusions, so he threw a kunai directly at her.

Sakura just caught said kunai and threw it back at him with a reply, "I'm not a bunshin."

"The eliminates one theory," Dosu said to himself. "Now I'm wondering how the hell she set up all these traps by herself, and where did she get all of those boulders?"

"Dosu, is this worth it?" Kin asked the team leader. "She's gone through trap after trap and come out completely unscathed while we're sweating up a storm, do you really think we have a chance, especially if she has more traps than that?"

"She's right, Dosu," Zaku admitted to him. "I think it's best if we just cut our losses here and get a scroll to get to the tower, or better yet, ask for the one she has."

Dosu just sighed and said, "Very well."

Kin handed her kunai pouch and shuriken holster to her team mates and said, "I'm the only one of the three that hasn't actively attacked, simply tried to defend, she'll be wary with you two, especially with your melody arm and you wind attacks."

The other two nodded as she walked toward Sakura, showing that she wasn't armed.

Sakura herself was on guard incase she tried something.

"You mentioned that you have two ten scrolls," Kin said to her.

"Ah," Sakura replied.

"May we have one of them? You don't need more than one pair of scrolls to pass," Kin told her.

Sakura just shrugged and pulled out the ten scroll that she had. "Take this with the promise that you'll leave us alone for the remaining duration of this portion of the exam," Sakura told her as she tossed the scroll. "And watch where you step, there are still quite a few more traps around, and I don't want a death on my conscience this early in my shinobi life."

Kin nodded as she caught the scroll and looked around carefully for some form inconsistencies. She avoided all the traps and made it back to her team.

"Let's get to the tower," Dosu said as he handed Kin back her equipment and received the scroll.

The two nodded as they jumped off.

"YOSH, SAKURA-SAN, YOU ARE SO GENEROUS!" Lee shouted as he jumped into view.

"Lee-san, how long were you watching?" Sakura asked, not really caring whether he intervened or not.

"Since you first started setting off your traps, the way you moved was so magnificent," Lee stated with serious enthusiasm.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, curious about what he was talking about.

"You moved so fast, it was as if the objects were passing right through you," Lee said in such excitement. "I must gain that kind of speed and grace as well."

"Baka, she wasn't moving very much at all," a voice said from on top of the stump that Naruto and Sasuke were in. "The reason it looked like the objects were passing through her, and vice versa is because that's exactly what was happening."

"Neji, my rival, why are you here? Oh, Tenten is here as well," Lee said to the Hyuuga.

"You were late to the meeting point so I decided to see what you were up to, thinking you might need my help, though it seems that wasn't the case," Neji said with an annoyed looked. He then started to feel something else, something dark, something cold, regardless of what it was, it was certainly powerful. He activated his byakugan and searched for the source. It surprised him, to say the least, that the source of this power was coming from beneath his feet. He deactivated his byakugan and jumped down from the stump. He looked at Sasuke and wondered how chakra could feel so corrupted, yet at the same time the corruption seemed to be under control somewhat.

Sasuke started to stand up as he awoke, feeling odd, powerful, but also feeling like strange. He didn't know how to describe it, the power felt good, but at the same time it also felt like it was trying to take over while another part seemed to be trying to keep the first part subdued. Throughout this entire situation, something was saying, 'Come to me, and seek the power you need.' However another part was saying, **'Don****'t listen, his power will only corrupt, everything has a price, and under most circumstances, the easy way has a price that is far too high to be worth it.'**

Now had Sasuke been the same person he was around three months ago he would have jumped at the chance, but he knew that the circumstances were far too convenient so he decided to see if he could help subdue the chakra that was trying to corrupt him.

'**Very good, at least you understand the concept of earning the power you seek,****'** the second voice told Sasuke as they both worked to keep the problem under control.

It was at this point that Naruto woke up with a light headache and an odd smell that was going through his senses. 'What's with this smell? It makes me think of a more feral Kiba,' he thought to himself as he stretched a bit. He certainly felt a tad more tired at the moment than he usually did when he woke up, but he didn't really think about it as he opened his eyes. What he saw was a tad odd in that he was seeing the forest in black and white. But what really surprised him was that he was seeing were lines moving through everything. In front of him was a high source of energy that he couldn't quite place at the moment and to his right was an even higher amount of energy, as he saw three forms of said energy battling it out in one body, and it appeared that two of the energies were overtaking another, which felt like it had some kind corruption within it. Naruto tried to make out more details, and that was when he realized that the body that was battling the corruption was Sasuke. 'If that's the case, then who's standin near us?' He thought to himself as he looked forward to see Neji. "Oh, hi Neji, is there any reason as to why you're here at the moment?" Naruto asked, snapping the Hyuuga out of his trance.

"Actually, I came here with the intent to find out what my team mate was up to, and I ended up finding something else that interested me," Neji admitted as he turned to Naruto.

"Sorry, Neji, you're not my type," Naruto commented to the Hyuuga genius. "Probably not Sasuke's as well."

The two heard a chuckle, much to Neji's annoyance.

They turned to see Neji's final team mate laughing at the Hyuuga's expense.

Naruto just jumped up and asked the female with two buns in her hair, "I don't think I've had the pleasure, I already knew about Neji from the previous year and the fact that Hinata mentions him occasionally and Lee introduced himself to the team prior to the exam even starting. Now what exactly is the name of the lovely kunoichi to which I am speaking?"

Tenten blushed a bit, not used to being complimented, but it felt good for her to be noticed as such, "Hayase Tenten, and you?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage," Naruto told her.

"That's all fine, but if it's not too much trouble, may I ask you a personal question?" Tenten asked seriously.

"Well you've already asked me one question, so go ahead," Naruto replied smartly.

"Okay then, what's up with your eyes? I could have sworn they were blue when I first saw you," Tenten admitted to Naruto.

The blonde genin gave her a confused look and he asked, "What are you talking about?"

"You mean you don't know?" she replied.

"Sakura-chan, is there anything different about my eyes?" Naruto asked the female in his team.

Sakura walked over and looked at them, "There is, I'm not even sure what's with them. I certainly can't describe them."

"Does anyone have a mirror, or anything that can work as such?" Naruto asked to everyone in the immediate area.

Lee reached into his kunai pouch and pulled out a pocket mirror.

"Why do you have a mirror?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Because Gai-sensei has one and he uses it to peek around corners in narrow areas so he isn't taken by surprise or so he can take someone else by surprise," Tenten explained.

"That's actually a good reason," Naruto said as Lee handed him the mirror.

Naruto looked into the eyes and thought to himself, 'Violet in a ripple formation, I think I've heard of this, but I'm not sure where and I can't even think about what it's called. I'll have to ask Ero-sennin or Kaitou-ji later. It's probably the best idea if I cover these eyes up.' He handed the mirror back to Lee as he said, "I honestly have no clue as to why my eyes are like this. Sorry that I couldn't answer all of your questions." Naruto then reached into his one of his pockets and pulled out a scroll. He opened said scroll, bit his thumb and swiped some of his blood on the seal inside the scroll. A pair of goggles like the ones Konohamaru and his friends wore. He pulled the goggles on.

"I wondered where those went to," Sakura thought aloud.

'Have I seen those before?' Neji thought as he looked at the goggles that Naruto was currently wearing.

"Well I couldn't very well throw them away, they were a birthday gift, one of the few that I actually received," Naruto replied with said goggles now covering his eyes. Naruto saw that Neji was giving him a questioning look and said, "Oi, I know I'm good looking, but I said earlier that you're not my type."

Neji just let that one slide as he said, "Gomen, it's just I've got this wierd feeling that I've seen those goggle somewhere before."

Naruto just shrugged, "You might have, you might not have, then again I don't see you could have given that the only Hyuuga that I had any interaction with when I even wore these prior to today was Hinata."

That's when the bells started ringing in his head, "Uzumaki-san, is your birthday in mid-autumn?"

"Yep, it's October 10," Naruto replied without thought or care. Quite a few adults knew when he was born, so why not a few people around his age.

'I thought so, but the only one that can fully confirm this is the next person I have to ask,' Neji thought to himself. The young genius didn't really care about who the person he was thinking about had a relationship with, he just wanted to satisfy his own curiosity. Besides, her nature would certainly provide interesting entertainment for this situation.

"Anyway, we should probably head to the tower," Sakura said to her team.

"You mean we have a chi scroll?" Naruto asked curiously.

Sakura pulled out the scroll she stole from Orochimaru.

"According to my knowledge, I managed to get one scroll from an Ame team, to which I'm still wondering why they attacked me so fiercely, it's not like I pissed on them when they attacked me," Naruto thought aloud.

Neji, Tenten and Lee all looked at Naruto wondering if they even _wanted_ to know what he was talking about.

"Actually, a bit of tactics here and there worked to our advantage," Sakura explained to Naruto.

"YOU MEAN YOU ACTUALLY GOT THE BASTARD'S SCROLL!" Naruto yelled.

"Geez, Naruto, were you loud enough?" Sasuke said as he finally stood up.

"Ah, Sasuke-san, it's good to see you up and about," Lee said to him in a polite manner.

"And it's good to be up," Sasuke replied. The Uchiha looked around and saw something out of place, "Naruto, why are you wearing your goggles?"

"I'm hiding my eyes, something is up with them, and I need to keep them out of view," Naruto replied to him.

Sasuke just shrugged as he walked over to the group.

Naruto just thought of something, he spoke his thoughts, "Have you three already gotten both scrolls?"

Lee pulled out one chi scroll, Neji a ten scroll and Tenten just remained unmoving.

"If that's the case, how about a team up?" Naruto offered team Gai. "Sasuke is in an unstable predicament, I don't think he'll be able to use his sharingan without risks at the moment, Sakura-chan is better with tactics and traps as demonstrated with the condition of the field and I have no clue as to what's up with my eyes, so I can't fight against anyone without risking my team," Naruto explained.

"I don't mind," Tenten said.

"It doesn't make a difference to me," was Neji's response.

"Assisting a fellow Konoha shinobi will show my true 'FIRE OF YOUTH'," Lee said with serious enthusiasm.

Everyone else just looked at Lee with a sweat drop.

Naruto just patted Neji and Tenten on the shoulder, "You have my condolences. If you want I can teach you two something that can take your place, although there is a downside."

"Keep the offer open, I might accept," Neji replied.

"Same here," Tenten answered.

"Enough chatting, let's get going," Sakura told them.

They all nodded as they started off.

Neji had his byakugan active to keep from falling into any ambushes.

Tenten kept her hands close to her weapons pouches.

Lee didn't really need to do anything, just kept himself alert.

The trip to the tower was uneventful as Team 7 and Team Gai stayed on alert. Neji's byakugan kept them from falling into a genjutsu place by the Ame shinobi that Naruto beat earlier. Both teams didn't even have to try to avoid that area.

They reached the tower within three hours, none of them seemed to be breathing heavily.

Naruto just thought of something and said, "Hey, Lee-san, how far can you run into a forest until you're not running into it anymore?"

Lee just thought for a bit and said, "That's a good question, Naruto-san. Tenten, do you think you can answer?"

Tenten put her hand on her chin for a bit but then said, "I can't say that I can. Neji?"

"Hmmm," Neji said as he closed his eyes for a bit. He then looked at the tower and the answer just hit him. "Half-way, because the moment you reach half-way into the forest you are no longer running in, you're running out."

"I guess that's why you're known as the Hyuuga prodigy," Naruto commented.

"Why exactly did you ask that?" Tenten asked curiously.

"I didn't really have a reason, I was just reminded of it when we reached the tower, which is in the center of the forest, exactly half-way no matter which direction you move in from given the forest is circular," Naruto replied without care. "I think it was oyaji that asked me that riddle first."

"Who?" Tenten asked.

Naruto looked at her for a bit until he realized that this team doesn't spend nearly as much time with him so of course they wouldn't know who he was referring to. Naruto just scratched the back of his head and said, "Gomen, the way you were helping made me forget you don't hang around me, the one I refer to as oyaji is the Hokage."

Neji raised an eyebrow as he said, "How is this fair? I can't even backtalk one of the main house members and you refer to the Hokage as oyaji?"

"Sometimes living a hard life has its perks, like not having to worry what anyone thinks about the nicknames I give them," was all Naruto replied with.

This got Neji wondering what Naruto was talking about.

"Anyway, let's get inside, I'm sure there will be some sort of surprise," Naruto said as he opened the door to the tower.

As they walked in they saw a scroll hanging on the wall.

Sakura started to recite what was on the scroll, "'If you do not possess heaven, gain knowledge and be prepared. If you do not possess earth, run through the fields and seek strength. If you open both heaven and earth scrolls, dangerous paths turn into safe ones. This is the secret of what what. It shall lead you on your way.'"

Naruto just shrugged and said, "I guess that this is our approval to open both scrolls. Which of you has the chi scroll?"

Sasuke pulled out said scroll as Naruto pulled out was seemed like a normal scroll. What Naruto did next surprised team Gai as he opened the scroll to reveal a seal, to which he bit his thumb, causing some blood to form. Naruto then swiped his blood on the seal and a ten scroll appeared in a puff of smoke.

Neji just commented as he pulled out his scroll, "You certainly came up with an ingenious method of keeping the scroll safe."

Naruto just opened the ten scroll as Sasuke opened the chi scroll, team Gai did the same.

The scrolls had the writing for man.

"Hmm, a summoning scroll," Naruto said as he set it down. Naruto indicated for Sasuke to do the same, to which the Uchiha did so with the scroll on top of Naruto's.

Team Gai followed their example.

Smoke started coming out of the scrolls and in a poof, two people were standing in front of the two teams. One of them was the familiar tan and scarred chuunin, Iruka. Another was someone with a sickly complection and his hitae-ate on a bandanna that was wrapped around his head, he was wearing the standard jounin attire with a katana strapped to his back.

"Konnichiwa, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said to the chuunin. He looked at the other one and said, "Ano, I can't say I know your name, but I do recognize you from around."

The sickly man nodded and said, "Ah, my name is Gekkou Hayate. Initially I was suppose to," he started coughing a bit interrupting what he was saying. "Gomen, as I was saying, I was was going to be the proctor for the next portion of the exam, but due to circumstances and potential conflicts of interest, another has been set in my place, I'm actually a tokubetsu jounin. This is actually a first, where two teams arrive at the tower in the same instance."

"We decided to help them out, given some special circumstances with them which intrigued me, and Lee just likes being the good samaritan," Neji responded with a nonchalant tone.

"Well, you're lucky that there was another person available, otherwise I probably would have been split in half," Iruka told them.

"I'm pretty sure that summoning works differently than how you just explained, Iruka-sensei, Ero-sennin pretty much explained that not one summoning object can appear in two places at once, so therefore another on of equal standing will act as a replacement for one of them," Naruto explained to him. "When he told me that, I think he was talking about general body mass."

"Hmmm, that explanation actually does hold logic to it," Iruka commented. "Anyway, congrats to both teams for passing this portion of the exam."

"I take it the scrolls, including the one hanging on the wall, indicate the physical and mental aspects of being a shinobi, that probably means that the mystery area is the Chuunin Exam," Naruto spoke his thoughts to them.

"Very good," Iruka commended Naruto for his insight. "'If you do not possess heaven, gain knowledge and be prepared' represents the mental aspect. 'If you do not possess earth, run through the fields and seek strength' represents the physical aspect. This is the secret of the Chuunin Exam."

"Knowledge is power, but it's how you use that power that determines your worth and standing in this world," Hayate said to them.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Iruka stated.

With that, both the jounin and chuunin poofed away, leaving the genins to their own devices.

Naruto looked to his team and to team Gai and asked, "What do you suppose we should do now? Since we're early, I guess that means we have time to rest before the nect portion."

"Naruto-kun, may I ask you one question?" Lee asked the blond.

"You just did, but go ahead," Naruto told the genin with thick eyebrows.

"Right, anyway, how did you beat that first team of Ame genin?" Lee asked, curious about Naruto's methods.

"Let's go farther in while I explain," Naruto told him as he started walking to the door.

Lee nodded as Naruto started to explaine his reasoning.

"Prior to meeting any of the teams, I examined the scroll thoroughly, and made three kage bunshin, those three henged into one ten scroll each, which each of us placed in our weapons pouch while I sealed the original," Naruto started his explanation.

Lee pulled out a pad and pencil and started taking notes.

"What happened next was the Ame genin took me by surprise, they caught me while I was pissing, and as they got closer they just started to attack with extreme brutality, after they tied me up, they pulled my bunshin out of my pouch and the surprise got them, I was freed by said bunshin and they got their asses handed to them," Naruto finished his explanation.

"How clever of you, Naruto-kun," Lee commented as he finished taking notes.

"They may have outnumbered me, but they didn't outsmart me," Naruto said with a smirk. Naruto then thought for a bit about strength and said, "Now I have a question for you."

"Be my guest," Lee replied.

"Why are you always wearing those legs weights?" Naruto asked with a curious stare. "As far a pure muscle working, I would expect you to at least take one or two days off to let your muscles rest properly before starting heavy workouts again. Kaitou-ji always says, 'A workout for your muscles is only as good as the amount of time you allow yourself to rest and recuperate.'"

"What does that mean?" Lee asked.

"Simply put, it doesn't matter how hard you push yourself if you're too injured from your previous workouts, it might even cause irreversible damage, so take at least two days off in a row to allow your muscles to rest and rebuild themselves, you'd be surprised at how much stronger you become," Naruto finished. "Kaitou-ji is a slave driver when it comes to training, but he knows what he's talking about when it comes to proper muscle treatment or even medical treatment."

"Who exactly is this Kaitou-ji you keep mentioning?" Lee asked.

"His name is actually Kaitou, I call him that for my own reasons, anyway you'll meet him soon enough, I'm sure, and you'll know which one he is right when you see him," Naruto told Lee as he walked around to see if there was anything he could do. 'Maybe there's a dining area in this place.'

Lee nodded, a tad confused, but he trusted Naruto's word simply because Naruto seemed like the kind of person to trust to him.

Naruto walked around and noticed that there were a few vendors here, he also took note of a weapons stand, so the blond genin decided to see if there was anything he could get.

The one running the stand set down a sword he was polishing, looked at Naruto and said, "Welcome to the Forest of Death branch of Hayase Weapons. Is there anything in particular you're looking for?" The one running the stand looked to be a middle-aged man with a rugged beard, he carried a heavy build that looked to be more muscle than anything. His complection was completely tan and he himself had no hair on the top of his head.

"Hayase, is there any relation to Tenten?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Oh, you met my daughter," the man replied with a smile. "I'm certainly proud to say that she _is_ my daughter, but where are my manners? My name is Hayase Tenchi, and you?" he finished with a question of his own.

"Uzumaki Naruto, pleased to meet you," Naruto replied with a bow.

"Well, you have manners, I'll give you that, you don't seem to be what most of the adults shade you as," Tenchi told him as he picked the sword back up, sheithed it and placed it on one of the racks. "I take it you can tell that I'm not a shinobi," Tenchi said to Naruto as he picked up a clip board and started writing down stuff as he walked around and looked at stuff.

"You seem more like a blacksmith than anything," Naruto commented.

"Well that's because I am one," Tenchi said as he wrote down what was there.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"Taking inventory, I have to do this bihourly to be sure that everything that I haven't sold is still here, I've had too many shinobi who think they're too important to pay, and then they have to eat their words when they're face down on the ground," Tenchi said as he finished writing down everything.

"Tou-san, did you make sure that onii-san knew that he was taking care of shop?" Tenten said as she walked into the stand.

"You know that's the first thing I made sure to do, and this time I made sure he was awake," Tenchi reassured his daughter. "Kenshi may not be reliable when you don't tell him something, but that doesn't mean that he can't handle things when I'm not there. Anyway I'm a bit busy so you best leave at the moment."

"Hai, hai," Tenten replied. She then took note of Naruto and motioned for him to follow, as both were leaving the store she said, "I see you met Otou-san."

"He seems pretty down to earth," Naruto admitted he walked alongside the kunoichi.

"Well, our circumstances haven't exactly been the best in the world and I've been working along with onii-san to help properly support everything," Tenten admitted to him.

"Are you first generation?" Naruto asked.

"Hai, the only one that's paid higher than shinobi in the village is the Hokage, and even then he's still a shinobi," Tenten answered him.

Naruto just shrugged, "I guess that means more people to interact with, I hope you do well in the next portion of the exam."

Tenten looked at Naruto for a bit and said, "Hai, and you to."

With Sasuke...

The Uchiha was walking around with thoughts going through his head, most weren't even his.

'**We need an expert at sealing, otherwise you****'ll be too worn down to properly participate in the next portion of the exam,'** one of the voices told the Uchiha.

'Don't listen to him, he just wants to take over,' another portion said, this one seemed to carry a form of malevolence in its voice.

'**If I wanted to take over a body, I wouldn****'t have chosen someone who has something that wants to corrupt him,'** the first voice replied.

"ENOUGH, STOP TALKING TO ME!" Sasuke shouted, which earned him quite a few looks.

One of which was from Kaitou, who was eating something when Sasuke yelled out. Kaitou just pulled on a pair of sunglasses and activated a sharingan. He looked at Sasuke and what he saw didn't please him, 'Looks like someone is trying to corrupt the young Uchiha. I'll see what I can do, but Jiraiya will probably need to help out with this one.'

The jounin walked over to Sasuke and said to him, "Come with me."

Sasuke, although a tad annoyed with his circumstances agreed and followed Kaitou.

"Is there anything you need?" Sasuke asked.

"I think I should be asking that, there are fluctuation within your chakra, like a battle for dominance. Tell me, are you hearing voices in your head?" Kaitou asked the Uchiha as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll. He opened said scroll and said to Sasuke, "We need some privacy. There are a few rooms used for private medical treatment. I'll make sure that everything is locked tightly and properly."

"What are you doing here anyway?" Sasuke asked.

"It's a bit of a community service situation, I have to do something that would normally be exceptionally decent in pay for free, you'll find out what it is later on," Kaitou said as they reached their destination.

Kaitou motioned for Sasuke to walk in first while he closed the door, locked it and put a silencing seal on it so nobody would hear anything. That being said Kaitou then pulled out another scroll, opened it, bit his thumb and ran his blood along the seal.

In a puff of smoke, several kinds of foods appeared as well as a note, right after all of this appeared, Kaitou fell face down on the floor.

Sasuke, wondering what happened flipped Kaitou over only to sweat drop at the realization that Kaitou was asleep. The Uchiha just shrugged as he looked over all of the food, which miraculously wasn't crushed by the jounin. He then saw the note and read it.

_Sasuke,_

_If you are reading this, I have fallen asleep and have left food out so you don__'t get hungry, these circumstances aren't something I can control. I am a narcoleptic when I am complacent, I won't explain what that means because I doubt you have not idea what narcolepsy is. These instances can last from minutes to days, though the most likely thing that will happen is that I'll wake up in an hour. You can't leave the room at the moment, so don't try, only I am able to unseal the door at the moment. Anyway do something constructive with your time, and eat something as well. Hopefully I'll wake up within the hour._

_- Kaitou_

Sasuke just sweatdropped again, 'Has he never had any form of complacency within the last fourteen years?' The Uchiha thought about what he should do, but he then shrugged and started eating his fill until Kaitou woke up.

* * *

End of Chapter...

No Omake here, although I have to admit, that Kaitou falling asleep right when he gonna try and help Sasuke out with his current predicament was pretty funny. If anyone has an Omake idea, just send it in. Anyway R&R. I will admit that some ideas I got from For the Love of My friends by Foxie-sama. but not everything for this chapter.


	14. Chapter 13: The Preliminaries

**The Eye of the Beholder**

_Review Replies:_

_None, unfortunately, give me more informative reviews to work with, then I'll actually be able to give proper replies, if any._

"Talking"

'Thinking'

_Flashbacks and Notes_

**Demons and higher beings**

**Disclaimer: **

Chapter 13: The Preliminaries

* * *

Kaitou woke up around three hours later, he noticed that Sasuke was just looking at the jounin with a seriously irritated expression.

"Sorry, I can't control it, and ever since coming back to Konoha, my complacency has been returning," Kaitou admitted as he looked at Sasuke through his sunglasses. He reactivated his sharingan and said. "Now, before we start anything, I want you to tell me exactly what the voices keep telling you."

Sasuke nodded at he replied, "One of them wants me to seek power, while the other one wants a seal to be placed on me, though I'm not sure what kind or why."

"I can't really say much about this. First off, when did this start happening?" Kaitou asked.

"It happened when that damn teacher of yours bit me," Sasuke said, seriously disgusted by the sannin's actions.

"So he's here, Jiraiya said he might try and start something. Now where did he bite you?" the jounin asked.

"On the neck, the bite marks are probably still there," Sasuke answered. He pulled his collar down to show the marks.

Kaitou examined his neck and said, "Sasuke, there aren't any bite marks, hell I'd be hard pressed to believe you if you didn't have a mark on your neck like Anko."

"What? What did the bastard do to me?" Sasuke asked with a bit of alarm.

"Calm down, that's probably the main reason why you're hearing voices telling you to seek power," Kaitou explained to the Uchiha. "I'd lost contact with everyone during my travels, so I couldn't possibly have known he'd go this far for his goals. Now, what of the other voice, what did it seem like to you?"

"The voice seemed kind of feral, like it enjoyed the outdoors, but more to the point, it didn't seem to have any form of corruption or malice in its voice," Sasuke described as well as he could given the circumstances.

"Could this voice be the reason why you carry the scent of a wolf?" Kaitou asked.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked, curiosity in his voice.

"You have an extra scent alongside your normal smell of burning wood," Kaitou explained to the Uchiha. The blond man pulled out a scroll and opened it. He rolled it onto the ground and said, "Lay on the blank space on your back. Make sure your stomach intersects with the scroll."

Sasuke did as he was told.

Kaitou pulled out a calligraphy brush and a vial of what looked to be blood. He dipped the brush into the vial and started putting different marks on Sasuke's stomach.

Sasuke looked like he was trying to keep himself from grinning.

"My apologies, but this is necessary, I will give you this bit of information. What I'm doing is only temporary, and can last at a maximum of a year," Kaitou told him as he continued his work. "Jiraiya knows more about these kinds of seals than I do, so he's going to be the one to finish my work, my specialty as far as seals goes are storage and medical, I always focused on the best way of keeping the shinobi alive."

"That's great and all, but why are you telling me this?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm just making conversation, I mean just laying there while I pretty much draw on you has got to be pretty boring," Kaitou told Sasuke as he started making a few handsigns.

"Not as boring as waiting for your to wake up, and I tried waking you," Sasuke told the jounin.

"I said I was sorry, I can't control my narcolepsy," Kaitou said as he finished his last seal. His chakra flashed as he slammed his hand on Sasuke's stomach and said, "Rinji Tougoku Fuuin."

There was a bit of a flash and all the seals that were on the scroll started to moved to where Kaitou put his hand. The wording started to surround the hand and a spiral appeared on Sasuke's stomach. Sasuke was breathing heavily, although it seemed that this was more because of Kaitou knocking the wind out of him than the sealing process.

"Dammit sensei, did you have to slam you hand so hard?" Sasuke said as his body started adjusting.

"Sorry, I wasn't sure if it would even work," Kaitou admitted. "This was the first time I actually had a use for this scroll, I had no means to test it out, so of course, some things might end up hurting," Kaitou said as he looked Sasuke over. "Is there any discomfort at the moment?"

"Not that I can feel," Sasuke replied. "Anyway if you hadn't used this before, then how did you know it would work?"

"I didn't, I knew that if there wasn't anything else within you, the seal wouldn't have reacted," Kaitou told the Uchiha. "Anyway are you sure there was no other pain."

"Positive," Sasuke replied to him

"Hmm, it's probably because of the fact that the seal is only temporary, if Jiraiya makes it permanent, your chakra coils are going to start being reconfigured as you will have a great deal more chakra, that'll probably cause a few hours of pain, and you'll need quite a bit of rest until your body becomes accustom to the new tenant, that being said, now the seal that Orochimaru placed on you should be kept in check now," Kaitou explained, though some of it confused Sasuke.

"What do you mean by tenant?" Sasuke asked, confusion clear on his face.

"Although, the seal isn't permanent at this point in time, for all intents and purposes, you have now become an official jinchuuriki," Kaitou told Sasuke.

Sasuke thought about this for a bit, but then just shrugged, "Whatever, as long as I can find the one responsible for the death of my clan, then it doesn't make a difference so long as they face retribution and my clan is restored."

Kaitou raised a eyebrow as he said, "You're certainly taking this well."

"Whether or not there is something within me, it makes no difference as long as I still retain full control of my body and it doesn't deter me from my final objectives," Sasuke explained.

"Which is restoring your clan to its former glory and administering punishment to the one responsible for its destruction," Kaitou finished for him.

"Ah," Sasuke replied as he walked to the door.

"Well, then I have nothing to worry about, just don't push yourself too hard during the next part and I'll have Jiraiya finish what was started, just make sure that Kakashi doesn't try and restrict that seal Orochimaru gave you because otherwise it'll be that much more annoying to get rid of," Kaitou told the Uchiha. Right before he unsealed the door he said, "And, although you can tell everyone close to you about your jinchuuriki status, it would be ill-advised to let the general public know. I'd heard about an incident with Kumo and the Hyuuga, just imagine what would happen if they found out about you _now_."

Sasuke couldn't help but agree as he walked out of the room, feeling a little better at the moment.

Kaitou followed right after.

Three days later...

The genin and some of the senseis were there as the Hokage made his announcement.

Kagura and Meimi were standing in front of a girl with braided brown hair that reached her mid back, she was wearing a black, skin-tight suit, with the standard kunai pouch and shuriken holster as well as the standard shinobi sandals. She also had two swords crossed at her back. Haku was standing behind Nami and Rika. Gaara, Temari and Kankuro were there as well. The Ame genin that Naruto had beaten had managed to gain both scrolls during the second part of the exam. The Oto genin were also there. Kabuto and his team also seemed to have passed as well. The remaining rookie nine also made it through the forest. They were all looking around to assess their situation when the Hokage spoke.

"I'd like to congratulate all who passed this portion of the exam, and with that the second part of the Chuunin selection exam is over, that being said, we can't move on to the third portion of the exam simply because there are too many people who passed, so with that, for the first time several years we will be having preliminaries for the final exam. That being said, you are no longer obligated by your team, if one fails, it will not affect their team. Is their anyone who would like to quit now?" Hiruzen asked looking around.

When no one did anything for the next ten seconds they continued.

Kaitou stepped forward as he said, "Let me handle the next explanation, Hiruzen. You should let yourself rest given your age. I am the exam proctor for this portion of the exam, you may simply know me as Kaitou."

"Disrespectful gaki," was all Hiruzen said as he let Kaitou take the stage.

"Alright, minna, there are thirty genin here, meaning that there will be fifteen matches, the board up there," Kaitou said, indicating the electronic board that was appearing behind a sliding panel that was opening up, "will be randomly selecting two names of competitors that will be facing off against one another. The match starts when I say, and not before, the match ends if one of the genin is dead, unconscious, incapacitated or I state the winner. I'm the proctor for a reason, you will _not_ undermine my authority or I will remove you from this exam, forcibly if necessary. And if you don't think I can handle you, just ask the last person that tried to attack me," Kaitou paused to let his warning take effect.

Team 7 and Team 8 as well as Haku remembered that incident and knew he wasn't bluffing.

"Anyway, let's get the ball rolling," Kaitou said as he pulled a remote control out and pushed the one button that was on it. The screen then went through several names at an extremely fast pace. Kaitou pushed the button again and two names appeared.

_Rock Lee vs Abumi Zaku_

"Yosh, right off the bat!" Lee said excitedly.

Zaku just smirked, thinking that this would be easy.

"Alright, everyone else, up to the stands," Kaitou said with a sense of urgency. As soon as everyone that wasn't participating in this fight besides Kaitou himself were up in the stands, Kaitou stated, "The top thing I mentioned, when I say the match is over, you'd better listen. Are both of you ready?" At both of their nods, Kaitou held his hands out, "Match 1 of the Chuunin Selection Exam Preliminaries, Rock Lee vs Abumi Zaku, hajime." He swung his hands in front of him, he then jumped up into the stands, where he fell asleep.

Kaitou's problem caused quite a few of the jounin from Konoha to sweat drop, the Hokage included. Most of them were thinking, 'He still hasn't gotten over it?'

Lee took his fighting stance while Zaku just smirked.

The Oto genin then extended his arms with his palms facing Lee, only to get a fist in the face as he was sent flying backward.

"What the hell was that?" Zaku asked, wondering about that hit as Lee took up his fighting stance again. "Enough fooling around, Zankuha," he said as he held his hands forward and the air pressure attack was launched at Lee. This only left him to be surpriseed when he saw that Lee wasn't even there.

"That is an interesting technique, but useless if you're too slow," Lee said from behind Zaku.

Zaku then turned around and pushed his hands forward, only for them to be held by Lee, palm to palm.

"Tell me, can you launch an attack if your hands are covered up like this?" Lee asked rhetorically. He then swept Zaku's feet and swung him around where he hit Zaku's head agaisnt the wall.

In a puff of smoke, Kaitou appeared and said, "Winner by KO, Rock Lee."

"YOSH, LEE YOU HAVE SHOWN YOU TRUE FIRES OF YOUTH!" Gai said with such enthusiasm.

"How can Imei stand him?" Kaitou asked himself.

Lee had apparently heard him. "You know Imei-neesan?" Lee asked the proctor as the medics carried Zaku off.

"Let's go into that after the prelims, now go up to the stands," Kaitou ordered the green clad genin. He motioned for Lee to go up to the stands.

"Hai," Lee said as Kaitou pulled the remote out of his pocket and pushed the button again.

Kaitou pushed the button again and the screen stopped again.

_Momochi Haku vs Yakushi Kabuto_

"Alright you two, get down here," Kaitou told them with a demanding tone.

Haku jumped off the stands and landed gracefully while Kabuto took his time in walking down the steps.

When Kabuto made it to the position Kaitou said, "Okay, you two know the drill, if I say the match is over, that's it, I declare the winner. Fight 2 of the preliminaries, Momochi Haku vs Yakushi Kabuto, hajime." He made the gestures and leapt back.

With that Haku started throwing sendon, during this the feminine appearing male said, "I'm certainly glad I've been conditioning myself, because it's been a while since I've had what would seem like a decent fight."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not all that strong," Kabuto said as he deflected a few of the sendon while some of them grazed his clothes and others pierced his skin slightly.

"Your words say one thing, but your eyes say something else entirely," Haku told him as he moved in and started attacking directly with his sendon.

Kabuto started blocking as he attempted to counter. They were at this for the next minute until he finally locked Haku into a stalemate with both left hands effectively keeping them both there.

"Sometimes what seems like the greatest blessing can be the worst mistake, physically speaking you probably can overpower me in this lock," Haku said as he started moving his right hand in different seals. "But genetically, my advantage is clear, Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishou," he said as needles started forming in the air.

Kabuto tried to dodge, but realized his movement was impaired, "What the hell? Why is this..." He paused as he realized that Haku had been throwing sendon with a paralyzing agent at him the whole time, he then focused on making him move so the agent would move through his blood stream faster. At this realization, he could only wait as the ice sendon hit him. As the sendon were about to hit him a wall moved in front of him. He looked to see that Kaitou with his hands in the hebi seal.

"Victory through incapacitation, Haku, now give him the cure to the drug," Kaitou told the boy.

"Hai," Haku said as he handed the cure to his paralyzing agent to Kabuto.

"Medics, take the guy to get proper treatment," the proctor said as he pushed the button to his remote to start the board up again.

"You're the man, Haku," Nami told him as he walked up the stands.

This got quite a few looks from most of the people, the only ones that didn't look surprised by what the girl said was Rika, Meimi, Kagura, team 7, team 8, both including their senseis, Kaitou and the Hokage.

"What are you talking about?" Ino asked.

"Let's make sure this is clearly stated on the record, I'm a guy," Haku said to them.

Most of the males looked weirded out due to his feminine appearance while quite a few of the females were wondering how a boy could look like a better girl than them.

This caused quite a few sweat drops to occur during this exchange.

"Enough debate about genders, and apparently envious appearances and let's get back to the task at hand," Kaitou said as he pushed the button again and the board stopped at two names again

_Haruno Sakura vs Akado Yoroi_

Sakura looked at her opponent, who, in her opinion, didn't look very intimidating. She jumped down and waited for her opponent.

Yoroi walked over to place.

"Are both ready?" Kaitou asked. When both nodded Kaitou said, "My word is law here, I decide when the match is over and the victor. Now let's get this started." He made a hand gesture, "Match 3 of the Chuunin Exam Preliminaries, hajime."

Sakura was judging her opponent, wondering what kind of fighter he was.

"You should give up, little girl, there's no way you can beat me," Yoroi told her.

"How about that decision be made after we clash, because, someone your age who's still a genin taking this exam is certainly more pathetic than me who made it this far alongside my team," Sakura replied, trying to get him to attack immediately.

"Hmm," he snorted. "Then don't blame me for your injuries," Yoroi made a few hand signs and his right hand started glowing.

Sakura kept her eye on her opponent, not knowing what he was doing, she parried his hand the he got near. It was during this that Sakura felt a little weaker. 'What just happened?' she thought to herself as she just kept moving the hand away. As Yoroi's hand got closer, she felt weaker again, and it was then that she realized, "You're stealing my chakra."

"Very perceptive, though it's not like it'll do you any good now," he said as he approached again.

Sakura thought to herself, 'If he gets near he'll drain my chakra regardless, better to keep from playing into his hand and do something else.'

Yoroi ran straight at her and Sakura did something he didn't predict.

Sakura grabbed the syphoner's wrist as he was approaching.

"That was an unexpected move, but foolish none the less," he said as he increased how much chakra he was taking only to lose concentration as he felt an excrutiating pain and everyone heard a crack.

Nearly everyone flinched at the sound.

Sakura had just snapped the guy's wrist.

"YOU BITCH, I'LL KILL YOU!" Yoroi shouted as he ran straight at her with his other hand glowing, only for her to catch hs forearm, break his arm at the elbow and throw him, face first, into the wall.

"Winner by KO and breaking limbs, Haruno Sakura," Kaitou said as the medics took Yoroi to have him patched up.

As Sakura walked up the steps, Gai approached her, "Interesting moves, I haven't seen someone use jujitsu in Konoha for quite some time. There were a few other trace elements of other taijutsu in there as well. Who taught you?"

"I can't say, Gai-sensei, and I've only just recently learn that move, so it's sloppier than it should be," Sakura admitted to the bowl cut sensei.

"Even so, it's commendable that you were able to pull of such a unique strategy given the circumstances," Gai told her.

"A little something from Naruto, if people expect you to do something, all you have to do is what they would least expect, and in this case, what reduced the amount of chakra he drained from me was attacking head on and stopping the problem at the source rather than trying to dodge and waste energy while he still drained me," Sakura explained to him.

"You will be a formidable kunoichi in the future if you keep up this pace," Gai commended before he walked back over to his team.

The screen stopped at two more names.

_Aburame Shino vs Kagari_

Shino walked down, calmly as the Ame genin followed.

Kaitou asked them, "Are both of you ready?"

Shino and Kagari both nodded.

"Well then, my rule is law, I decided who wins and who loses, and the match ends when I say so, and so the fourth match, Aburame Shino vs Kagari," Kaitou said to them but was interrupted.

"Question before we start," Kagari asked. "Why do you keep repeating that same line before the matches?"

"Because everyone who will be fighting might not be paying attention, so I have to keep saying it so that anyone who goes out of control knows that I did warn them beforehand, this keeps the village and myself from getting into trouble, it's annoying, but with all the legal ramification I can't leave anything to chance," Kaitou answered the genin. "Are there any other questions?" Kaitou asked. When both shook their head Kaitou then moved his arms, "Then, hajime."

The Ame genin started moving through seals, only to be interrupted when Shino punched him.

"I'm no rookie as far as tactics go, I know the best means to overcoming a technique is to stop it before it's even started," Shino said as he took a taijutsu stance. His body was slightly slouched with his wrists curved, his right hand was by his face while his left was extended a bit, but not fully. Shino's left leg was straight at an angle to keep his balance while his right leg was bent to support most of his weight.

Lee looked at Shino's stance and asked, "Gai-sensei, is that?"

"Ah, it is," Gai confirmed.

"What are you talking about?" Tenten asked.

"The stance he has taken is a basic stance for Mantis Kung Fu," Gai explained to her. "It's a fighting style very similar to juuken in that it attacks in a precise manner, hitting points that could temporarily paralyze, knock out or even kill the opponent, and also like juuken it's a very difficult style to master, I'm surprised he was even able to find someone who could teach him."

"Just another copy," Neji said aloud.

"Actually, this fighting style has been around for a great deal longer that even the existance of the Hyuuga clan, it's actually more accurate to say that juuken is a copy of that," Gai replied to Neji's comment.

The fight seemed to be going one way as Shino kept blocking and striking, until Kagari set up a genjutsu. Through this, there appeared to be more of him.

Shino's response to said move was to reveal his clan ability. Hundreds of bugs started swarming out of his jacket, Shino just stood there as the bugs left him.

"Is this suppose to scare me? No matter how many kinds of tricks you do, it won't make a difference if you can't find me," Kagari said as he threw a kunai at Shino.

"That would be a problem, if my insects didn't already know where you were," Shino said to the Ame nin. "Swarm him now," Shino ordered.

The Ame genin thought he was bluffing until the swarm was on him, they drained him of enough chakra so that he couldn't stand up for a bit.

"Winner by incapacitation, Aburame Shino," Kaitou said as he looked at the genin who was barely conscious. "Good work, but I think this was a little excessive."

"Excessive means that he died, my opponent is still alive, so there is no problem," Shino replied to him.

Kaitou just shrugged as the medics took Kagari to the infirmary.

As the board started running through names again Neji was wondering about how Shino summoned his insects. He activated his byakugan and was surprised to see that he didn't summon them, they were living inside his body so all he did was call them out.

"That boy is the heir to the Aburame clan, they are a clan that has a pact with insects, for becoming living hives and voluntarily letting them feed off of their chakra they get complete control of the insects living within them," Gai told his student.

"I'd heard of them, I didn't know they were this well rounded in abilities," Neji admitted as he deactivated his byakugan.

The board stopped its shifting as the next names came up.

_Uzumaki Naruto vs Hayase Tenten._

Naruto jumped down and landed right by his uncle, Tenten did the same.

"Are you both ready for this match?" Kaitou asked them.

"Hai," was Tenten's response.

"Ah," Naruto replied.

"Before we get the ball rolling, I have to ask. Why are you wearing those goggles?" Kaitou asked, curious about the reason, mostly curious about the goggles themself.

"We'll talk about this after the preliminaries," Naruto replied to him.

"Anyway, you know the drill, what I say goes, I declare when the match is over and the victor of the match," Kaitou told them as he held his hands up. "Preliminary Match number 5, Uzumaki Naruto vs Hayase Tenten, hajime," and he moved his arms as he started the fight.

Tenten started by throwing a few weapons at Naruto, only for the blond genin to catch the first two and block the rest.

"You do realize I've demostrated the ability to catch fast moving projectiles more than once during this exam, so you should have at least been able to judge that those wouldn't work on me," Naruto told her.

"Hai, I was just evaluating your reflexes," Tenten with a smirk.

"If that's the case, how about another demonstration of abilities?" Naruto said with a grin of his own.

"Okay then," she looked down and counted the tiles. The bunned kunoichi then pulled out a scroll, ran and jumped, opening said scroll and a high amount of weapons went straight for Naruto as she spun the scroll around.

Naruto moved his body as he blocked those that could cause immediate danger, he came out of that barrage of weapons with a few minor nicks and cuts on his arms and legs.

"Damn, I thought for sure you would dodge," Tenten said as she landed.

"I did dodge, I also blocked and maneuvered as well, staying in the attack zone so there wouldn't be any unexpected surprises," Naruto said to her with a smirk.

"I'm getting even more excited with this," Tenten said as she pulled out two scrolls and set them on their sides. "I was hoping to save this for the finals," she said as she went through some hand seals.

Naruto threw a kunai at one of the scrolls, knocking it over, effectively keeping Tenten from performing the jutsu at the moment. "As honored as I am that you see me as a worthy opponent, I can't let you bring out your big guns this time around, it might actually force me to reveal more of my abilities," he said as he ran straight at her, causing her to jump back. Naruto then started engaging Tenten in taijutsu, and both seemed to be evenly matched. Then at one point Naruto backed off.

This action confused the kunoichi for a bit until she heard Lee.

"Tenten, behind you," Lee shouted to his team mate.

"Huh," The kunoichi looked behind her to receive a fist to her left cheek, courtesy of a kage bunshin, which sent her flying straight towards Naruto, who struck with a right uppercut to her chin, effectively causing her to see stars. As she landed on the ground, her head was stopped via Naruto's bunshin. "Why did you do that? The match is still going," Tenten asked.

"That may be, but I don't want to cause any unnecessary damage, and I'm pretty sure a concussion falls into that category," Naruto said as he dispelled his bunshin.

"When did you make a bunshin?" Tenten asked as she stood up.

"Around the time you used me that scroll of weapons, with that scroll spinning in one direction and you in the other," Naruto answered her.

"How did it remain hidden so long?" the kunoichi asked.

"He simply henged into a random weapon that was released while you were using the scroll, you provided good cover for me, that's the main reason why I stayed stationary to that particular area, it wasn't to avoid traps, I was keeping any stray weapons from hitting my bunshin, after my decision to engage you in taijutsu, I saw that I was getting nowhere so I jumped back, that was the signal for my bunshin to strike, especially considering I positioned you so your back was to him," Naruto explained to her.

"You show ingenious tactics, you use an opponents blindspots to your advantage, you hit hard," she said as she rubbed her cheek. "REALLY, hard, and you show mercy in the heat of battle. I've lost this match," Tenten said. She then turned to Kaitou and said, "Proctor, I forfeit."

"Winner by forfeit, Uzumaki Naruto," Kaitou said as both combatants headed up to the stand.

"That was a most youthful battle, Tenten, it's a shame you didn't win," Gai told her.

"He out thought, out maneuvered and overpowered me, in the end it was no contest, especially with how he placed me exactly where he wanted without me noticing, Naruto knows how to think on his feet," Tenten replied with no shame in her voice.

"Naruto-kun has proven to be a worthy adversary," Lee said with enthusiasm.

"I agree, and he's suppose to be the dead last of the rookies, it makes you wonder if everyone else can think as far ahead as him, or if the academy teachers are properly evaluating their potential candidates," Neji replied with a thoughtful look on his face. "What's even more is that he won without showing more than one ability that we didn't already know he was capable of, that makes him even more dangerous."

"Yosh, I'm getting excited at the thought of fighting him in the near future," Lee said with flames in his eyes.

"Well get excited later, now it's time for the next match," Kaitou said as the board showed the next names.

_Gekkou Miki vs Nara Shikamaru_

"Yatta, now I get to show my worth," the girl with the katana strapped to her back said as she jumped over the railing and landed hard on the floor.

"Mendokuse, now I have to fight a female," Shikamaru said as he slowly walked down the steps.

"Seriously, Miki-san, what would your brother say about your behavior?" Kaitou commented.

"I don't know, he's standing over there, so why not ask?" she questioned as she pointed to the sickly looking jounin.

That retort got nearly everyone in the room to sweat drop as they all thought one thing, 'What a ditz.'

Kaitou just shook his head as he asked, "Are both of you ready?"

"Hai," Miki said cheerfully as Shikamaru nodded lazily.

"What I say goes, I decide when the match is over and who is the winner. Preliminary Match 6, Gekkou Miki vs Nara Shikamaru," he crossed his arms and said, "Hajime."

With that Miki started by pulling out one of her katana only to stop when Shikamaru's shadow connected with hers.

"Kage Mane, success," Shikamaru said. He then moved his hand and Miki followed his example. Shikamaru reached up and moved his hand like he was grabbing something from his back. Miki did the same, pulling out one of her swords. The lazy genin then moved his hand in front of him and Miki did the same, the blade of the sword getting close to her throat.

"Winner of this match through possible death situation, Nara Shikamaru," Kaitou said as he stopped the fight, well more like a massacre.

Everyone just looked at the two of them with an one thought, 'The shortest match so far.'

The board went through a few more names when is stopped again.

_Sabaku no Temari vs Hyuuga Hinata_

"Finally, it's time to show what Suna is capable of," Temari said as she jumped down.

Hinata walked calmly and just as she was passing team 7 Naruto said to her, "Observe and retaliate as such, that thing strapped to her back is a fan. Use this knowledge to your advantage, I know you can do it, those sparring sessions against you tell me that."

Hinata blushed at Naruto's faith in her and she nodded as she walked down the steps and across the floor to face Temari.

Temari looked at her and tried to assess how she was going to fight her. So far what the Konoha shinobi have demonstrated hasn't been what she was expecting so she'd best be on guard.

Kaitou spoke to them, "Are both of you ready?"

"Ah," Temari said.

"Hai," Hinata said with a medium tone.

"Alright, what I say goes, I decide when the match begins, when it ends and who is the victor," Kaitou said once again. "Preliminary Match 7, Sabaku no Temari vs Hyuuga Hinata, Hajime," he made the gestures with his arms to start the match.

Hinata activated her byakugan and got into the juuken stance, 'Alright, Naruto-kun said that what is strapped to her back is a fan, most likely her primary weapon. Given that she's from Suna and she uses a fan, her main attacks are all most likely wind based, that gives me the advantage, given I've been trained to fight close range as well and that fan probably works well with brute force, she most likely has to swing it in a wide manner, leaving her open to quick attacks.'

Temari just smirked a bit as she opened her fan and swung, releasing a wind attack.

Hinata, seeing the attack, stuck her palm out and released a bit of wind chakra, effectively cancelling out her attack.

Temari just raised an eyebrow as she said, "Oh, a futon user from Konoha is rare, from what I've heard. This is certainly going to be interesting."

"Wind versus wind, who will win," Hinata said as she kept herself steady.

Temari just smirked as she was about to swing her fan again when Hinata moved in quickly, dealing small, but precise hits on Temari. The Suna kunoichi closed her fan and struck out to hit Hinata, who in turn, dodged and attacked once again. After about a minute or so of this going on, Temari finally fell down.

"Winner through incapacitation, Hyuuga Hinata," Kaitou said as he spoke to Hinata. "Now if you don't mind, how about we make less work for the medics."

"Hai," Hinata responded. She started sending her chakra through the points she had closed up, therefore reopenning them, and allowing Temari to stand once more.

Temari just smirked as she said, "I gotta say, Konoha certainly has some interesting kunoichi. And some of the males aren't bad to look at either."

"Before you start assessing potential betrothal candidates, go back to your siblings," Kaitou said to her.

"Hai, hai," Temari said as she opened her fan and rode up to the stands.

"Another quick match, but not a bad display of skill and certainly a good display of keeping a cool head," Kaitou thought aloud as he pushed the button again for the display board to go through names again.

One thought went through one of the genin's head as he saw that match, 'She's gotten stronger, but how?'

The board stopped on the next names.

_Tsurugi Misumi vs Sabaku no Gaara_

"Well, this ought to be an interesting match," Kaitou said as Gaara appeared right next to him.

The last member of Kabuto's team had glasses and was wearing a mask like his previous team mate.

He walked down and towards the center until he was standing across from his opponent. He looked at Gaara with arrogance in his eyes.

The Suna shinobi just looked at his opponent with indifference.

"Are both sides ready?" Kaitou asked. When both nodded, he said, "What I say goes, I declare when the match starts, when it finishes and who is the victor." Kaitou looked in between the two genin as he said, "Preliminary Match 8, Tsurugi Misumi vs Sabaku no Gaara, hajime."

Misumi when straight forward attempting to strike when he got struck in the head with something. As he was dazed he felt himself being wrapped up and he was then slammed into the ground.

"Now _that_ was the fastest match here," Kaitou said to them as he looked at what initially hit the bespectacled genin. It was the cork to Gaara's gourd. He picked up the object and asked Gaara with a smile on his face, "Alright, I have to ask, do you want your cork back?"

"Hmm?" Gaara turned and noticed that the cork was in Kaitou's hand and not on his gourd at the moment. He used some of his sand to wrap it around the cork and tried to pull it forcefully from the jounin. What really got Gaara wondering about this guy was that Kaitou didn't look like he was about to break a sweat when Gaara was struggling to get it away from him before Kaitou let go.

"That was a tad rude, although in this case, there was nothing really wrong given there was no hostile actions toward me, next time just ask and you will receive, anyway, match over, winner by knockout, Sabaku no Gaara," Kaitou declared as the Suna genin appeared next to his siblings. He then pushed the button and the screen went through the remaining fourteen candidates. Kaitou called out as he pushed the button again and said, "Second half of the preliminaries and considerable matches so far. Let's see if the next seven can measure up."

_Uchiha Sasuke vs Kinuta Dosu_

Sasuke smirked as he jumped down, he didn't actually know this guy's strength, but he was getting board anyway and he knew that the Oto genin couldn't be nearly as strong as Orochimaru.

Dosu looked as Sasuke with interest as he thought, 'Now is the time to accomplish the mission Orochimaru-sama assigned.' With that thought in mind the Oto genin jumped down and stood in front of Sasuke.

"Alright, are both of you ready?" Kaitou asked.

"Ah," Sasuke replied.

"Hai," Dosu said in his low tone.

"Before this match starts," Kaitou said as he looked at Dosu. "Ibiki mentioned your actions a few days ago, so this is emphasized for you. _I_ call the shots for this match, _I_ decide when the match starts, _I_ decide when the match ends and _I_ decide who wins, if you overstep your boundaries even once during this match, that will be an immediate disqualification for you and any future during the Chuunin Selection Exms while they are being held within Konoha. Clear?" Kaitou asked with a serious amount of killing intent spread out, quite a few of the shinobi were shaking or sweating from the pressure.

"Crystal," Dosu replied weakly.

As quickly as his killing intent was felt, it soon vanished as Kaitou smiled and said, "Good."

It was at this point in time that everyone save for the ones that knew the man well enough finally figured out why he was the exam proctor. This was worse than Ibiki, who could mess with you psychologically. This man gave the genin the feeling that if you don't listen to this man you won't last.

Kaitou looked at the combatants and said, "Preliminary Match 9, Uchiha Sasuke vs Kinuta Dosu, hajime."

Dosu started things out with his gauntlet as he made a hooking motion with his fist.

Sasuke, remembering the incident from the days prior, jumped back a few meters. He activated his sharingan and analyzed the Oto shinobi. Sasuke noticed some chakra dicipating about a meter away from the Oto genin. 'Well that makes things easier, his technique only has a radius of a meter from where his arm is located. That means that he can't attack long range, it's all dangerous close range. Lucky for me I have a few techniques that I've been perfecting when it comes to control, so let's see how well they work.' Sasuke went through a few seals, ending on the tora seal and he said, "Katon Endan no jutsu." Sasuke sent out a mid sized fireball at the genin.

Dosu, for the most part, was surprised that Sasuke was smart enough to attack him from a long range, 'This is going to be a lot more difficult than I thought. Maybe we should have kept trying in the forest.' He then dodged the attack, only to receive a fist to his right cheek.

Sasuke smirked as his diversion worked. He was walking over to the Oto shinobi, who had slid across the floor from that punch. It was then that his vision started getting hazy. "What the hell?" Sasuke said as he fell over and started to vomit.

"You aren't the only one that can plan ahead, Uchiha," Dosu said as he approached Sasuke and punched him with his gauntlet, causing a double affect do to it actually hitting as well as the sound attack.

"Dammit, didn't think far enough," Sasuke said as his vision started coming back to him.

Dosu raised his hand as he said, "After I take care of you, the one in green is next for what he did to my team mate."

Sasuke looked at Lee as Dosu was about to strike when an idea occurred to him. 'That's it,' he thought as he turned on his left hand and knee and kicked his right foot up.

Dosu was hit in the chin by Sasuke's kick and sent flying.

"Gai-sensei, that's..." Lee said to him.

"And this is why you should never reveal your secrets to potential opponents if you don't know them well," Gai told his student as he watched Sasuke.

Sasuke got on all fours and jumped up to go right behind Dosu. "From here on, it's all original," Sasuke said as he grabbed the pelt the Oto genin was wearing and kicked his left side with his left foot. He then moved around the other side and struck Dosu downward with the back of his left fist. "I'm not done yet," Sasuke said as he spun around and landed with Dosu with the heel of his left foot slamming into Dosu's stomach while the Oto genin's back his the stone floor. "Shishi Rendan," Sasuke called out as Dosu's head hit the floor.

Kaitou walked over to the two, looked Dosu over and said, "And that's all she wrote, winner by knockout, Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke stood up as Kaitou declared him the winner. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to regain his bearings. Sasuke then looked around and saw that his team and training partners were cheering for his victory, well, half of them, Chouji was digging into a bag chips he was holding, Shikamaru was sitting with his back against the wall trying to sleep, Shino was being a mystery as always and Hinata was keeping quiet. Kiba was cheering alongside Naruto, mostly because they train together when it comes to katon justu, might as well let him know he has support from his end. Ino herself could already cheer in place of her entire team, so he already knew about her support, not that he wanted it.

The medics took Dosu to the infirmary as Sasuke walked back up the steps.

Kaitou pushed the button again and the board went through names.

_Akimichi Chouji vs Meimi_

Chouji walked down the steps and toward Kaitou.

"Ahhhh, why do _I_ have to fight a cute one?" Meimi whined as she walked down the steps. She stood directly in front of Chouji and before the match started, she winked at him.

This got Chouji to blush a bit, the girl in question was not unpleasant to look at, and the fact that she was showing interest in him was not helping at all.

Kaitou sighed as he thought to himself, 'I think we need to work on that.' He then looked at both of them and asked, "Are both of you ready?"

"Ah," Meimi said with a bit of excitement.

"H-hai," Chouji stuttered a bit.

"I am the law for these matches, whatever I say goes, I decide when the match starts, when it end and who is the victor," Kaitou told them. "Prelimary Match 10, Akimichi Chouji vs Meimi, hajime," Kaitou motioned for them to start.

When the match started, Meimi just ran up to Chouji and started cuddling with him, "How about after these matches we go out to eat? I found this wonderful barbeque place."

"I-I-I-I," was all Chouji could say as she was openly flirting with him.

Kaitou just groaned, 'Who the hell taught her that?' He looked around and noticed there were a few interested looks.

Kiba was saying, "Sweep her off her feet."

Shikamaru was looking slightly interested at this turn of events.

Ino was just gaping, she was trying for several years to get Sasuke's attention, and Chouji gets someone's attention without even trying.

Gaara was watching with raised eyebrows.

Kankuro was wondering why they weren't fighting.

It was then that Kaitou took note of someone giving an approving look, 'I should have known.'

Anko was smirking as she mentally cheered, 'Yeah, that's the way to get his guard down.'

Chouji just looked away for a bit when he felt that something was off, he then noticed out of the corner of his eye that a fist was coming straight toward him. Reacting quickly, Chouji caught the punch with his left hand. Chouji smirked as he said, "Very clever, but I won't be fooled a second time."

"Actually, I meant what I said about going out, you're my kind of guy," Meimi replied as she locked with the big genin hand in hand.

The two were in a deadlock, but Chouji seemed to be able to push Meimi back due to him being heavier. Meimi, not liking being beaten in this match gathered her chakra to her feet and held herself to the ground. Chouji saw that he wasn't getting anywhere now released the lock, knowing that they were too evenly matched in brute strength, he decided to see who did better with technique. He thrust a palm out at her. Meimi didn't seem surprised with what Chouji did and dodged the strike. Chouji, not about to let that frustrate him, struck out again.

During this demonstration of taijutsu, Gai looked at this spectacle with interest.

"What style is that? I've never seen anything like it," Gai wondered aloud. What surprised him was when he got an answer.

"It's an old style created long before even the great catastophe that destroyed the majority of the population of the planet," Kaitou said from behind Gai, surprising everyone with his appearance.

Everyone took a step away from him as he watched the match with his arms folded.

"Why are you up here? You're suppose to be judging the match," Gai said to him with an odd look.

"I can judge from nearly any position in this room, this just happens to be a decent position, besides, you wanted answers," Kaitou explained to the green clad jounin.

"Alright then, tell me," Gai said to the proctor.

"This fighting style was mostly used as a sport in the past, but was said to be initially used with Shinto rituals, it eventually grew in popularity and became a sport, especially in an area known as Nippon, I've been looking for said area during my travels, but have come up short with information, and to tell you right now, you are not suited for this style of fighting," Kaitou explained to Gai with a look right before he watched the match again.

"Now you certainly can't be saying that I cannot learn this style of fighting," Gai insinuated with a smirk.

Kaitou just sighed as he explained, "It's not about whether or not you can learn it, certainly fighting styles are dependant to the kind of build a person carries. This one was designed specifically for someone with an the type of build an Akimichi carries, which is why Chouji is learning to use said style of fighting."

"You speak as if you were the one teaching him," Gai said to him.

"I am," Kaitou said simply.

"Demo, the laws of conflict of interest," Gai said with an odd look.

"That law doesn't extend to exam proctoring unless the proctor in term is playing favorites and even if it did, it only specified through legal or blood relations. Besides I trained both sides of this match, so even if I _did_ play favorites who would I play it for?" Kaitou told Gai once again, never taking his eyes away from the combatants.

"I see your point," Gai admitted.

"And anyway, when have I stopped the match when it wasn't called for?" Kaitou told the jounin with big eyebrows.

"I get it, I get it, you are a fair judge who has done nothing but remained neutral throughout this entire portion of the exam," Gai admitted to the blonde jounin.

"Glad to hear it," Kaitou said as he still kept his eyes on the match.

Chouji, on his part, still had difficulty hitting her, he got a few shots in, and when he did they certainly counted. Meimi was feeling every hit he made, and it was at this point that she decided to counter. Chouji threw his next attack and the brown-hair kunoichi hit his forearm, redireting the attack to upward, forcing the heavy-set genin off balance. Meimi then counter attacked by moving in and throwing several attacks at different vital areas. Meimi jumped back as Chouji remained standing.

"That was certainly a good demonstration," Chouji admitted to her. "And I think I'll take up your offer to go out to eat after these preliminaries if it still stands."

Meimi jumped with glee as she said, "YATTA."

Chouji just fell down, to which Meimi ran over and supported him as Kaitou appeared next to the two.

Kaitou checked Chouji's pulse and felt around to see what was hit, after this diagnostic, the medics moved in with a stretcher when Kaitou told them, "No need for any medical treatment, he just need rest." Kaitou then signaled Asuma to down here.

The Sarutobi did as such and listened to Kaitou's explanation. Asuma nodded and picked Chouji up and walked back into the stands.

"Winner by knockout, Meimi," Kaitou announced as he pulled out the remote and pushed the button to activate the board again.

_Hanami vs Oboro_

Nami shrugged and grabbed the railing, after this she pushed herself up and forced her body upside down, she then performed a complete split. Nami then bent her arms and pushed herself off of the railing and towards the main floor, did several flips before landing with complete grace, shocking nearly everyone at the demonstration.

"Was that really necessary?" Kaitou asked her with annoyance in his voice.

"You said I needed to occupy my time with more constructive means," Nami replied with a smirk.

"But that doesn't mean you need to show off in front of everyone," Kaitou told her. "Speaking of which, the moment I start the match to the moment it ends, the reason for occupying your time will be allowed."

"Really, Oh thank you, Sensei," she said as she rushed and hugged him.

"Enough of that, people are staring, and I already have enough problems with suggestive situations without you adding to them," Kaitou told her as he pulled her off.

And sure enough, they were getting quite a few wierd looks, some of the ones that weren't included to this group were Gai, Lee, Hiruzen, Anko, the rookie nine as well as their senseis and the sensei to the remaining Oto genin.

'He's going to have a lot more trouble if these circumstances keep happening to him,' Hiruzen thought with a chuckle.

"YOSH, THE FIRES OF YOUTH ARE ALIVE WITHIN THOSE TWO," Gai shouted with as much enthusiasm as he could.

"ESPECIALLY WITH THAT DEMONSTRATION OF ABILITY," Lee added to his sensei's comment.

"Lee you are correct in that," Gai commended his student.

"Sensei," Lee said with tears in his eyes.

"Lee," Gai said, also teary.

"Enough, we need to get to the match," Hiruzen interrupted before things got out of hand. And with what happens with those two, you can almost guarantee that it would happen.

"Thank you, Hiruzen," Kaitou said as Oboro finally made it to the starting point.

This was the same Ame genin that attempted to fool Sasuke and Sakura on the first day of the second part of the exam.

The only thing going through Sasuke's head was, 'Let's see his strength.'

Kaitou made his rule specification before saying, "Preliminary Match 11, Hanami vs Oboro, hajime."

Nami reached into her weapons pouched and pulled out several glass orbs with a clear liquid within all of them. She then started throwing the orbs at the Ame genin, who simply kept moving around. The orbs broke on impact with hard floors, scattering the liquid, some of the liquid covering the Oboro.

"If that's all you've got then you'd better give up now," Oboro replied with a cocky attitude.

"Hardly," Nami said as she started pulling more orbs out and throwing them everywhere that wasn't in the stands, the results were that the floors and some of the walls save for a small area, the area that Nami was currently standing, were covered in the liquid.

"What is that stuff? Because it sure as hell isn't water, there is scent isn't right," Kiba commented to no one in general.

"I have a theory, but I can't be sure," Asuma replied as he watched intently.

Oboro just scoffed as he rushed at her, "Like doing that is going to help you."

Nami just smirked as she punched the Ame genin back. "Just because I threw stuff, doesn't mean I can't use taijutsu well."

Oboro replied, "A good warning, but you didn't capitalize and that will cost you." He then went through a few sets of handseals and seemingly melted into the floor. Then several of the Ame genin started moving forward and attacking her.

Nami just smirked and pulled out a lighter, "You're already within my trap, the saying is out of the frying pan and into the fire, give up or you'll get burned."

"I'm not fooled by you," Oboro said as he threw a kunai at her.

Nami shrugged slightly as she moved her body and the kunai missed her. "Suit yourself," she said as she opened the lighter and lit it in one motion, she then tossed the object into the liquid and it immediately caught fire.

The flames spread rapidly, to all areas covered in the liquid, and after a few seconds they could here a screaming occur as the genjutsu dispelled and everyone saw the Ame genin running around, covered in flames. Oboro was too busy running around that he didn't know where he was running, and the next thing he knew, he felt a pain in his cheek as he slid across and hit his head on the wall. At this point in time, the flames on the floor had died down and the only this left on fire was Oboro, which was quickly remedied with a bucket of water, courtesy of Kaitou.

The proctor snapped his fingers a few times and confirmed that the Ame genin was unconscious. Kaitou called the medics out to get them to check for any burns before he called out, "Winner by knockout, Hanami."

Nami walked up the steps to the stands and was confronted by Kiba

The feral looking genin asked, "What was in those orbs because that didn't smell like gasoline?"

"That's because it wasn't, it was lighter fluid," Nami replied to him.

"You carry glass orbs filled with lighter fluid?" Kiba asked rhetorically.

"I just demonstrated how useful they can be," Nami told him.

"Can't argue with you there," Kiba said as the maroon-haired girl walked past him.

The next match was up on the board.

_Sabaku no Kankuro vs Rika_

Kankuro jumped down and said, "Finally I get my shot."

Rika walked down the steps patiently.

When Rika made it to her position Kaitou explained the rules. He looked to both of them and asked, "Are you both ready?"

"Hai," Rika answered.

"I've been ready since I first walked into the room," Kankuro replied to Kaitou. "Just get this over with."

"Alright then," Kaitou said as he held his arms up. "Preliminary Match 12, Sabaku no Kankuro vs Rika," he dropped his arms, "hajime."

Rika looked at Kankuro warily as the Suna genin put the package he was carrying down. He was waiting for Rika to make a move. Rika was still eying Kankuro carefully.

"You're cautious around unknown opponents, I like and respect that, but, since we're not going to get anywhere by just looking at one another, I might as well start this off," Kankuro said as he picked his package up and ran towards Rika and punched at her with his left hand.

Rika eyed her opponent carefully as she countered by pushing a few pressure points in his arm, to which the arm fell down, useless at this point in time. Not deterred by this turn of events, Kankuro struck with his right, only for the same thing to happen. When Rika finished with this she struck several of the pressure points in his legs, making him fall down. Rika then did a hard kick to his head, knocking him out. Rika turned around and was walking towards the stand when she felt someone grab her from behind.

"Impossible, I paralyzed both arms and legs and hit your head with enough force to knock you unconscious," Rika said aloud.

"As impossible as it seems, remember the greatest weapon a shinobi carries, say hello to Karasu," Kankuro said as two other arms shot out of his sides and wrapped around her while his face started to crack, revealing something that was definitely not Kankuro. This object had three eyes, two legs, six arms and an a mouth like a ventriloquist dummy. The bandages around the previous package that the object was carrying unwrapped to reveal the real Kankuro.

"Deception, you've been posing your puppet as yourself the entire time, knowing that they would think it's you and attack it first, before you get a chance to use it, and that's also why you said you were ready when you walked into the room," Rika said as she struggled with the arms wrapping around her, constricting even tighter.

"This match is over, Winner, Sabaku no Kankuro," Kaitou said to the combatants. "Release her from your puppet, you have already been declared the victor, and if you don't not only will I release her myself, you will be removed, from this exam as well, and she will become the winner by default," the proctor warned Kankuro as the genin had a defiant look in his eyes.

"Tch," Kankuro said with a wave and moved his fingers to release Rika from the grasps of Karasu.

Rika started rubbing her limbs to ensure that her blood was still circulating properly. Rika then looked at Kankuro, bowed and said, "I accept my loss, you were able to beat me through strategy and deception, which are some of a shinobi's greatest weapons."

"I think I got lucky with my opponent, there aren't that many who would accept a loss that easily," Kankuro commented with a suprised look.

"Regardless of luck or any other circumstances, you are the winner, now both of you go back into the stand so we can have the next match," Kaitou said as he pushed the button for the next combatants.

_Tsuchi Kin vs Kagura_

"Alright, next combatants, down here now," Kaitou ordered them.

Kin jumped from the stands. As the only one of her team still in the exam a lot was riding on her victory, so this put a heavy amount of pressure on her shoulders. That being said, she was still able to keep her mind calm at the moment.

Kagura also jumped down, excited to finally be able to fight.

The blond stuck out her hand as she said, "May the best kunoichi win."

Kin, although confused with Kagura's gestures, took her and and shook it, "I agree."

Kaitou looked between the two of them and asked, "Are you both ready?"

"Osu," Kagura said.

"Hai," was Kin's reply.

Kaitou explained the rules to them and then said, "Preliminary Match 13, Tsuchi Kin vs Kagura, hajime." Kaitou made the gestures to start the fight.

Kin started with throwing a few sendon with some bells attached on them. Kagura dodged, the projectiles and stood her ground, wondering what the Oto genin was about to do next. Kin threw another sendon with a bell on it. Kagura was wondering why she attaches bells to her sendon, that just makes it easier to dodge. Kagura listened for the bell, when she heard it, she dodged accordingly, only to get hit by another.

"What the hell, I'm sure I dodged," Kagura said before she started looking around. It was then that she noticed a wire being held by the Oto genin, she looked back and noticed that the wire was attached to the bell of the initial sendon she threw. Kagura smirked as she applauded her opponent, "I gotta give you props for originality, you divert their attention by the bell, making the opponent think that they've dodged, only to throw your sendon to where they dodged. But I'm not going to fall for that trick again."

Kin smirked as she just pulled the wire again and again while throwing more sendon.

This confused a few of the spectators given that her strategy wasn't going to work now, why did she still keep ringing the bell.

Kagura continued this for a few seconds until her balance started to become harder to maintain, then her vision started to get blurry. It was then that she saw Kin smirking at the situation.

Kin started speaking as she approached Kagura, "It looks like you've been caught in my genjutsu, it's too bad you didn't attack up front, I certainly wouldn't have been able to defend myself." Kin pulled a kunai out as she kept the wire tight enough to keep ringing her bells. She reached Kagura and held the kunai to her throat, "While under my genjutsu, your senses and balance are impaired and you don't have the necessary capabilities to avoid my killing you, give up."

"That won't be necessary, because this match is over with a clear victor, congratulations Tsuchi Kin, you will be advancing," Kaitou said to the Oto shinobi. "Now, before anything else, release your opponent from the genjutsu," he ordered her.

Not wanting to push her luck, she did as she was told and cut the chakra she was feeding into the bells while pulling the wire she was holding and pulled her sendon out of the wall. The bell rang for a bit before she caught the sendon. She put both the sendon and the bells back into her pouch as she walked back up to the stands and to her sensei.

Kaitou watched her leaving until she reached the Oto jounin sensei. Kaitou then eyed the man for a bit and gave him a look that said, 'I dare you to try something.'

The jounin just looked at Kaitou and then smirked.

Kaitou pulled the remote out as Kagura walked back into the stands after watching the interaction between the two jounin.

Everyone else was wondering what was up with Kaitou's staring at the Oto jounin as well.

The screen stopped on the next names.

_Mubi vs Yamanaka Ino_

Ino jumped down and landed with little effort, she then walked to her position.

The last of the Ame genin jumped down, although he wasn't sure what to expect. He though to himself about what his only visible eye observed, 'The girl doesn't seem like much, but neither did the other two his team mates fought and look how they turned out. Best to play this safe when the match starts.'

"Are both genin ready?" Kaitou asked the two.

"Hai," Mubi replied.

"Yosha, sensei," Ino stated with excitement.

'Sensei?' was what was going through the heads of quite a few jounin and genin.

"Stop staring, I won't do a trick anyway," Kaitou said, a tad annoyed with Ino revealing that he was teaching her something.

This got quite a few odd expressions with his comment.

Kaitou was about to explain the rules when he fell down.

Hiruzen was hoping it wasn't that again, but him as well as Sasuke, Kakashi, Gai and Asuma thought that this was the most likely case. The Hokage jumped down and walked over to Kaitou, he flipped him over and checked his breathing. The aged Sarutobi sweat dropped as he spoke out, "He fell asleep."

"HE FELL ASLEEP!" was the majority of the replies, it mostly came from the genin, and a few jounin. Even Hinata couldn't help but give the Hokage an odd look.

"Unfortunately that is the case, Kaitou-san has a special kind of narcolepsy, and it's very difficult to wake him up when this happens, so, without further ado, Hayate," Hiruzen called out and the sickly looking jounin that greeted team 7 and team Gai appeared in front of the Hokage. "Since our current proctor of the preliminaries is incapacitated, and therefore unable to perform his duties at the moment, this jounin will be taking up the duties until the proctor wakes up," Hiruzen explained to them as he jumped back up into the stands.

"Konnichiwa, minna, I am Gekkou Hayate, and I," he stopped as he started to cough heavily.

Only one thing was going through the heads of team 7 and team Gai, 'Does he always appear this sickly and cough that much?'

When Hayate stopped coughing he said, "Gomen, as I was saying, I will be standing in Kaitou-san's place for the duration of these preliminaries or until he wakes up. Anyway, are both combatants still ready?"

"A little surprised by this turn of events, but I'm good," Ino replied with a shrug.

"Hai," the Ame genin replied.

"I will now go through the rules, what I say goes, I decide when the match begins, when it ends and who is the victor," Hayate explained to them. "I agree with Kaitou-san's philosophy, just because it was explained prior doesn't mean you were paying attention, this gives you fair warning," the sickly jounin said as he looked between the two. "Chuunin Selection Exam Preliminary Match 14, Mubi vs Yamanaka Ino, hajime."

"What about sensei?" Ino asked aloud.

The unanimous replies from those who _did_ reply were, "He'll be fine."

Ino, although reluctant to continue, given the circumstances, started fighting, only to see that there were two of the Ame genin. "What happened?"

"I made a mizu bunshin while your were distracted, the bucket of water used to douse my team mate earlier certainly helped," Mubi replied to her.

"Well if you're going to do that, then I might as well show what I can do," Ino said as she rushed forward with a fist to the face of the Ame genin.

The genin didn't see it coming as Ino knocked him straight on his back.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Neji demanded as he saw that her speed might even top his own.

"Team 10, under Sarutobi Asuma has its own strengths and weaknesses, Ino's strength just happens to be her speed, she's the fastest member of the team," Shikamaru explained to the Hyuuga. "The main reason why Ino is able to keep us working, because otherwise we're more likely to get struck several times, and she's done it before, if I hadn't already figured out how she initially strikes first, I'd probably be covered in bruises more often."

"But to be fair, Shikamaru, your comments don't exactly scream that you want her to be nice to you," Chouji replied before he dug into the bag of chips he was holding. The Akimichi has woke up shortly before Kaitou fell asleep, meaning he was also aware of his condition, but just because they knew of it didn't mean they knew what triggered it.

"But then, if that was the case, you could have easily overpowered me in the forest," Neji replied with an odd look.

"It was too mendokuse, you were more likely to have passed so therefore, why bother showing what we could do, better to face a team that had a more likely chance to fail," Shikamaru shrugged as he watched the match with mild interest. "Although Ino has the advantage at the moment, if she doesn't stop screwing around, she's going to put herself in a bad situation. The previous matches with the other Ame genin were won through out thinking, not sheer skill."

Neji couldn't help but agree with what the Nara was saying.

The fight seemed one-sided given that Ino had the clear advantage due to her speed. But that didn't mean that the Ame genin was a pushover. He was able to keep his visible eye sharp, and therefore, able to ensure that minimal damage occurred when she struck. He might not seem like much, but this guy was most likely the most calm out of his team. He made a few more mizu bunshin and sent them after his opponent. Ino dispatched a few of the bunshins pretty easily while some of them got a few lucky shots. Deciding to stop playing around, Ino moved her fingers and thumbs in a box formation and aimed it at the one holding the seals to make the bunshin.

"Shokka-Shintenshin no jutsu," Ino said as she fired the technique at Mubi and fell over.

"Heh, what a useless..." but he didn't get a chance to finish as his body was completely taken over.

Ino thought to the genin, 'Before you start counting someone out, you need to at least understand what the jutsu they use does, in this case, it transfers my mind to whoever I target and allows me to control them until I dispell the technique.'

'But what does that mean for my bunshin?' Mubi questioned. 'They already know that my chakra has changed, meaning they know it's not me, they'll most likely attack me to get to you.'

'The I guess I'll just have to take them out,' Ino said in her thoughts as she started attacking bunshin after bunshin.

The bunshins started to retaliate, and one of them managed to get one solid strike on her, this was hard enough to send Ino back to her body.

As Mubi started to regain awareness and control of his body, he attempted to move his arm, when his leg started moving instead. He then tried to move his body to position him to look up when his toes started moving.

"I bet you're wondering what happened," Ino said with a smirk as she had a hand on her hip. "Shintenshin no jutsu normally transfers the user's mind, this is a different version where when the user, namely me, dispells the jutsu or is forcefully removed from the victim's body, the electric pulses in the victim's nervous system that sends the messages that would normally make a person do specific actions are scrambled, therefore, what you usually would use to move your hand, could make you move your knee move, the only this about this is that it doesn't affect from the neck up, so you're still able speak, smell, and whatnot, my technique may screw with your nervous system, which is only temporary, but your basic living necessities are still active."

"Interesting move," Mubi said as he started molding his chakra. "Although I may not be able to move at the moment, I can still transfer chakra to my remaining bunshins, and since they are essentially me, only less powerful, they still have my capabilities, like, let's say, genjutsu," And with that him and his bunshins all melted into the floor.

Ino, although annoyed with this, was not going to let it get to her. She closed her eyes and tried to stop her flow of chakra and restart it to stop the genjutsu. This didn't work as a kunai cut her, causing her to lose concentration. Ino then decided to concentrate and keep herself calm. She closed her eyes and tried to sense the movement in the surrounding. With a flick of the wrist, she sent a kunai in one direction. After hearing a splash, she knew she had hit one of the bunshin. 'Alright, eight more.' And with that she kept herself calm, she threw a shuriken this time and hit another. She felt herself being approached from the rear, and she spun around and slashed another two. This action went for another ten minutes until it was only Ino, Mubi and one last bunshin. Ino focused a bit and noticed that she was being approached from behind again, but this time she was also being approached from the front. Ino thought to herself, 'One last kunai gotta make this count.' She then spun and slashed the one behind her, and then three her kunai at the one in front of her, both turned to water, which was cause for alarm. She was then tackled from behind and pinned to the floor with her arms behind her back and a kunai to her throat.

"And this is what I meant," Shikamaru commented as he watched the end of the match.

"My jutsu usually lasts for at least twenty more minutes, how are you able to move?" Ino asked him.

"You were probably fighting against someone who is around your size, I'm one third taller than you, so that cut it down," Mubi said to her.

"But that should still leave ten minutes," Ino retorted.

"I cut that in half by facing lightning chakra with water chakra, lightning and water as opposing elements, cannot beat one another, so they cancel each other out, I figured I might as well try it, I had nothing to lose and everything to gain, and in my recovered stated with two more bunshin all I had to do was wait until you were busy to pin you," Mubi explained to her. "You certainly will make chuunin in future exams, just not this one at the moment."

"I couldn't agree more," Kaitou said, revealing himself to be awake. "Sorry about earlier, my nacoleptic problem isn't something I can control, anyway, the match is over, Mubi is the winner through incapacitation and possible death."

Mubi let go of the kunai and pushed himself off of the kunoichi, what he did next surprised everyone, he grabbed Ino's arm and pulled her to her feet. Mubi explained himself, "I am simply showing my respect to a kunoichi who will make herself into a great shinobi one day." And with that declaration he moved back up to the stands.

Ino did the same.

"I'm not going to push the button, the only two who haven't fought, get your asses down here," Kaitou ordered with heavy authority.

Kiba jumped down, finally getting his chance in action.

Neji just walked calmly as he made it to his position across the Inuzuka.

"Are both fighters ready?" Kaitou asked them.

"Hai," Neji said as he activated his byakugan and got into his juuken stance.

"Hell yeah," Was all Kiba said as he put his hands in the tora seal and got onto all fours. "Gijyuu Ninpou, Shikyaku no jutsu."

"Before you attempt to take each others' heads off, know that what I say goes, I decide when the match begins, when it ends and who is the victor," Kaitou explained to the genin. "Chunnin Selection Exam Preliminary Final Match, Inuzuka Kiba vs Hyuuga Neji, hajime," Kaitou made the final gesture to start the match.

"Before we start, I should inform you that you can't beat me," Neji said with his arrogant smirk.

"And I think you should know, I already know how slim the chances of beating you are, that doesn't mean that's it's impossible and that I can't try, besides, if I can't beat you, I can at least make you expose all of your abilities, which I know quite a few of them anyway, courtesy of your cousin," Kiba replied with his own smirk.

"I feel only slightly insulted given her demonstration on that Suna genin, but there is still no real comparison. Someone like you, who's marks could be compared to a dropout could never beat a genius like me," Neji replied to him.

Kiba started chuckling, "If only my elemental training sensei could hear you, he would most likely kick your ass. He was considered a dropout in the academy, and you would be surprised at who he turned out to be. And don't worry, I won't using any elemental chakra, I'm still more likely to hurt myself before I get my opponent so I'm keeping myself from using that until I have complete control."

"You speak as if your sensei is powerful, perhaps I should meet him and judge for myself," Neji said to him.

"Beat me, and I'll be more than happy to let you meet him, you'll have to ask my training partners though, and I mean _all_ of them," Kiba replied with a smirk as he prepared to attack.

Neji jumped back as he saw Kiba's position. He decided to make as much distance between them as possible as he kept his byakugan active. 'I'll need to time this right, from what I've read of the Inuzuka clan, their speak is nothing to scoff at.' He then saw that Kiba was rushing forward. Neji positioned himself with his back to the wall. Just as Kiba was about to strike, Neji stepped out of the way and Kiba ran face first into the wall. Not one to miss an opportunity like this, he simply struck once behind Kiba's neck, rendering him unconscious.

"Second fastest match in these preliminaries, and certainly anticlimactic," Kaitou said to no one in particular. "With Neji as the winner, this ends the Preliminaries of the Chuunin Selection exams, someone take the young Inuzuka to the infirmary, and check to make sure his nose isn't broken," Kaitou ordered the medics.

The proctor centered himself in the center of the room and said, "Alright, minna, all who won their fight, front and center, as for the rest, you can just watch for all I care."

When all the winners of the match were lined up, Kaitou turned to the Hokage and said, "Alright, Hiruzen, you've got the floor."

The Hokage stepped forward as he spoke to the genin, "I'd like to congratulate all finalists for making it this far in the exam. Now we need to take your names for the next portion."

"I will call out each of your names in the order in which you have fought," Kaitou explained to them. "Hayate, the replacement in case of one of my narcoleptic relapses will be writing each name and the number you drew from this box on the board behind me," he indicated the box in front of him. He then indicated the board behind him which had a cloth over the majority of it save for a small space, which had parallel lines over it, just out from below the cloth.

"Rock Lee," Kaitou said.

Lee stepped forward and reached into the box, he reached around the box and felt something long and scaly. He then repositioned is so he would pick up the end of what he was holding and pulled up the head of a python. "Is this suppose to be some form of sorting snake?" Lee asked, confused.

"Sorting snake?" Kaitou looked and saw Lee pulling the python out of the box. Alarmed, he grabbed Lee's hand and got him to let go, dropping the snake back into the box. Kaitou turned to the Hokage and said, "Who picked up the box, because they got the wrong one."

This got quite a few sweatdrops from the Hokage as Hiruzen, "Kaitou, I think that was you."

Kaitou gaped, causing sweardrops from everyone else.

In a puff of smoke, Jiraiya appeared in front of the group while holding a box similar to the one with the snake in it and said, "Kaitou, I think we got our boxes mixed up."

Kaitou looked a Jiraiya with an odd expression.

"What's with the look?" the sannin asked.

"What exactly are you going to do with that snake?" Kaitou asked.

Then a lecherous grin appeared as Jiraiya was about to answer when he was interrupted.

"Nevermind, I don't want to know, besides, you already corrupt the minds of jounin, Daimyo and kage alike, best to keep chuunin hopefuls out of that mix for now," Kaitou said to the sannin. "Now get your ass out of here before people start asking for your name."

"Like people don't want to know me," Jiraiya said with a confident smirk.

"It's not that they don't want to know you, it's that they wish they'd never met you after a while, now beat it," Kaitou told the sannin.

Jiraiya was mumbling something along the lines of ungrateful gaki as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The genin that had no experience with the interaction with the two sweat dropped. Most of the jounin did as well.

"Now that we have that out of the way and we have the right box, Rock-san, if you will," Kaitou said to Lee.

Lee nodded and reached into the box and pulled out a a piece of paper.

"Now open the paper and tell me the number on it," Kaitou instructed to him.

Lee nodded, opened the paper and said, "Seven."

Kaitou wrote that down as Hayate wrote it down on a board that was behind him.

"Momochi Haku," Kaitou said.

Haku walked forward, stuck his hand in the box, pulled the piece of paper out and said, "Ten."

Kaitou wrote that one down as well, Hayate followed suit.

This went on for a few minutes until everyone received and told their numbers.

"Now we will show you why you drew these numbers," Kaitou explained to them as the cloth that was covering the board was removed.

The line up was as such.

Match 1: _Uzumaki Naruto vs Hyuuga Neji_

Match 2: _Uchiha Sasuke vs Hanami_

Match 3: _Meimi vs Tsuchi Kin_

Match 4: _Rock Lee vs Hyuuga Hinata_

Match 5: _Sabaku no Gaara vs Momochi Haku_

Match 6: _Sabaku no Kankuro vs Aburame Shino_

Match 7: _Haruno Sakura vs Mubi_

Kaitou told them specifically, "Since the Nara drew fifteen, he gets the benefit of numbering, he would have to fight one match less than his final opponent should he be make it to the final round. That being said, the next portion of the exam will not be held immediately. Hiruzen will explain the details."

The Hokage stepped forward and spoke to them, "As you all know, the next portion will not be held immediately, it will be held in one month, this will allow everyone to rest, recuperate, train and strategize yourself as you prepare for your upcoming opponents. Does anyone here know the true meaning for this exam?"

"I heard that it was a replacement for war," Meimi said to him.

"Among other reasons, that is true, but another reason for this is to establish possible clients in the future, each village sends their best genin to the exam to show off their strength, skill, knowledge and abilities, in a way, these exams are to show who has the best shinobi and therefore would be the best village to pick for missions, it also acts a deterent to ensure that other villages don't get the idea to attack them, in a way, we flex our muscles to intimidate, many Daimyo and whatnot are going to be watching the exams next month, and don't have the time they would like, which is why we needed to cut down the numbers by at least half. Now another bit of information is that you will be judged by not only the proctor, but other chuunin and jounin as well as myself for your performance and not whether or not you win," Hiruzen told them.

"So it's possible that all of us could make chuunin?" Nami asked.

"Yes, but it's also possible that none of you will make it as well, so when you fight, pull out all the stops and show that you have what it takes to move up to the next rank," Hiruzen told them. "And, with that, you are all dismissed for the next month to do whatever is necessary to prepare."

And with that all the jounin save for Kaitou left, and the only reason Kaitou was still there was because he fell asleep again.

This caused all of the genin to sweat drop.

* * *

End of Chapter...

Omake...

Kaitou and Sasuke walked out of the room, looking a tad better than they seemd to be before. As they left, they didn't notice that they were being watched.

The observer took note that they were in the room for three hours, Sasuke's hair was slightly tousled and his shirt was a tad messy as well, Kaitou himself didn't seem to have any difference save for a more relieved look on his face, strangely enough, Sasuke had a similar look.

The observer then walked into the room and noticed several wrappers on the floor as well as what looked like blood, and there was a distinct marking near the door, and a slight bit of chakra, indicating that something was used recently. The only thing going through the guy's head was, 'What went on in here?'

He then thought to himself, 'Okay, they went in around three hours ago, I couldn't hear anything, indicating a sound barrier of sorts, there was a sudden amount of chakra released, they both walked out with more relieved looks on their faces, the Uchiha's clothes and hair were slightly messy, and there was this mess when they walked out, with some traces of blood on the floor.'

It took him a bit to draw his conclusion but when he did he yelled in his head, 'WHAT THE HELL WENT ON IN HERE?'

_Translation: _

_Tsukigan - Moon Eyes, a little nickname that Naruto gave Neji because of how white hie eyes are._

_Jutsu:_

_Rinji Tougoku Fuuin - Temporary Imprisonment Seal: This seal is specified to keep something in check for a bit until a proper seal master can be found and can use this seal as a base to finish the sealing completely._

_Shokka-Shintenshin no Jutsu - Shocker Mind Transfer Technique - A little something Ino came up with during her training with lightning chakra. She thought, having her abilities to use the Shintenshin might do well, but since their both pretty dazed when she dispells the jutsu, she wanted to make add a little something more that would keep the target preoccupied while she was fully recovered._

I know, the Omake seemed kind of sick to the person who drew the conclusion, but I thought to myself what exactly would someone think if they saw everything that had happened. I honestly find it funny myself, especially if that isn't what happened. Besides, with this and a few more misunderstood scenes, Kaitou will be seen in a way that most already see his sensei, which will probably get them to think that that's where he got it from.


	15. Chapter 14: Power and Abilities

**The Eye of the Beholder**

_Review Replies:_

_Rose Tiger: Sasuke will not be corrupted, you will find out within this chapter what will happen, not that anyone else can__'t figure it out, and Hinata will be shown within the next few chapter_

"Talking"

'Thinking'

_Flashbacks and notes_

**Demons and Higher beings**

**Disclaimer: I don****'t own Naruto, I do own a few jutsu and characters but that's it.**

Chapter 14: Power and Abilities

* * *

Kaitou was escorting Naruto and Sasuke to the onsen to find the perverted seal master, Jiraiya. He would have brought Neji as well, but he decided to wait until everyone else was fully healed before introducing them. Kaitou, Sasuke and Naruto all saw the pervert standing right by the fence. A very mischeivous idea just popped into Kaitou's head.

"You guys wanna see how loud we can make him scream?" Kaitou asked the two.

Both gave mischeivous grins of their own.

"The line of fire is only for those who are willing to take the risk," the jounin told them and then summoned a Kage bunshin. "But sometimes there are better means to getting the job done without risk. You know what to do," Kaitou told the bunshin. The bunshin bowed to Kaitou and walked over to the sannin.

Kaitou, Naruto and Sasuke just sat back and watched the chaos that was about to ensue.

The bunshin crouched behind the sannin and said to him, "You know, you'd be dead if your enemies found out about this. Not that quite a few don't already know."

"Wuh," was all Jiraiya could reply before the bunshin attacked.

"Sennen Goroshi," the bunshin said as he slammed his fingers into Jiraiya's rear, sending hims flying into the women's onsen.

Naruto just watched as the bunshin dispelled and he said, "You know, that jutsu is a lot funnier when it isn't being done to you, especially to those who have it coming."

"I wouldn't know," Kaitou replied to him as he saw that Jiraiya was about to get the second worst beating of his life.

"Neither would I," Sasuke commented.

The three spectators winced a few times as they heard Jiraiya scream.

"This could almost make someone feel sorry for him," Kaitou commented.

"Yeah, _almost_," Naruto replied to him.

The women came out of the onsen a tad peeved, but seemed to be happier that they gave a pervert what was coming to him.

Kaitou walked over to a few of the ones that he identified as shinobi and said, "Could a few of you please humor a middle-aged jounin and go and retrieve the old make that you just put into a great deal of pain? I'd go myself but it's still the women's onsen and there might still be a few more there, and I'd rather not be categorized with him. I'm already having enough problems with assuming people as is."

The females, although disgusted that he needed the old man, were quite taken by his manners and walked back into the onsen, after a few seconds they the females walked out with Jiraiya being dragged behind them.

As they brought the old man to him he said to them, "I'd say I owe you one to all of you, but first, I'd probably regret it, no offense intended. And second, the beating you and the rest the women gave him pretty much repaid that because I'm the one that sent him flying into the onsen for peeking in the first place."

The women just shrugged and walked way as Kaitou started healing the injuries that Jiraiya accumulated through his own actions. When the gama sennin was healed, Kaitou just threw him into the boiling springs to wake the man up.

It did the trick as Jiraiya jumped out of the water a few seconds later screaming and looking slightly red.

"Next time, pass the time with something a little more constructive, something that you can keep your senses up while still doing," Kaitou told the pervert as he crossed his arms.

"Alright then, what do you need me for, because I doubt the Uchiha needs to be trained that badly?" the sannin asked the jounin.

"A few reasons, actually, let's go to a more secluded area, one without prying eyes and ears," Kaitou told him and held both genin by the shoulder and poofed to a different location, Jiraiya following shortly after.

Wooded area...

Kaitou then walked over to Naruto and said, "I took note of a few things during the preliminaries, Naruto, remove your shirt and mold some chakra."

"But what about," Naruto said, indicating Sasuke.

"The circumstances have changed, so Sasuke is allowed to find out, however, Jiraiya and myself are bound by the law, your aren't, so just remove your shirt," Kaitou told him.

Naruto complied and took his shirt off.

"Before you do anything else, try to walk on the stream over there," Kaitou ordered the genin.

Naruto nodded and molded his chakra and walked over to the stream, he seemed to be struggling and after a bit he fell in.

"What happened?" Jiraiya asked.

"These two had a confrontation with my sensei," Kaitou told him.

"That would cause some problems," Jiraiya commented as he approached Naruto. "Alright gaki, get out of the water and start molding some chakra."

Naruto wondered where he was going with this but complied with the sannin's orders. He molded his chakra and the seal appeared, after a few seconds another seal appeared on the first one.

"Well that certainly complicates his abilities to mold chakra," Jiraiya said as five flames engulfed the tips of the fingers and thumb of his right hand. He then slammed the flames into the seal on Naruto's stomach and said, "Gogyo Kaiin."

Naruto flew back a few feet until he caught himself and said, "Oi, what was that for, it hurt."

"Gomen, but it had to be done," Jiraiya said to the genin. "You should be able to mold your chakra easier now, try water walking again."

Naruto, although annoyed, did as such, and now his control was back to normal.

Throughout this entire situation, Sasuke was wondering what was happening, brought attention to himself. "How about explaining to me what is going on?"

"Before that, you will need to know the reason for the villagers treating Naruto as they have," Kaitou told Sasuke. "Naruto, explain one of your secrets, the one that _wouldn't_ make you a target for assasins," Kaitou told Naruto as he approached them.

"Sasuke, how much do you know about me as far a personal information?" Naruto asked, trying to see what all he had to explain.

Sasuke thought for a bit, "Other than some form of relation to this guy," the Uchiha indicated Kaitou, "and your birthday, which is October 10, not much. I know your favorite food, which would be surprising if it wasn't public knowledge, your dominant hand, unless you're ambidextrous, your favorite color, the most frequent move you use as far as being a shinobi is involved, and I also know who you have your eyes set on."

"Okay, what happened on the day I was born?" Naruto asked, slightly relieved that he wouldn't have to do too much explaining, ignoring Sasuke's last observation. "And I _am_, I just prefer to use my right hand."

"That could be misinterpreted," Jiraiya commented.

Sasuke didn't want to think about what the sannin was talking about as he did a recount of his thoughts as he thought of all events that had happened during Naruto's birthday twelve and a half years prior. After a few moments Sasuke voiced his thoughts, "The only things that I can think of as far as that specific date are the Yondaime's death and the attack of the Kyuubi no Yoko, which caused the Hokage's death in the first place."

"Very good, now can you find how all of that interlinks with your fellow genin?" Kaitou asked Sasuke.

"Hmmm," Sasuke thought to himself. 'I'd never heard of him actually killing the bijuu, only that it was defeated at the cost of the Hokage's life. There was also never any record of being able to kill a bijuu, but there are some rumors of them being sealed into vessels, I mean that's how _I_ am at the moment...' and that was when Sasuke just hit his head. "How did I miss that? The date, Naruto's birthday, Yondaime's death and the seal currently on his stomach, they all point to jinchuuriki. Naruto has the Kyuubi no Yoko sealed within him," Sasuke concluded to the people.

"Very good, now what are your thoughts about this?" Kaitou asked Sasuke.

"I don't _have_ any thoughts about it, he's still the same guy he was ten minutes ago, I just now know that he has something that could give him a great deal more power in heightened emotional states, like when you got pissed in the forest," Sasuke spoke what was on his mind. Sasuke then thought for a bit and asked, "What did Orochimaru _do_ to you anyway?"

Jiraiya just sighed as he said, "He put an odd numbered seal on Naruto's even numbered seal, therefore keeping him from properly accessing Kyuubi's chakra, also screwing with his control and how much chakra he can access. What I did was remove the odd numbered seal."

"Well, he's better now, as long as the team won't be affected I really don't care if he even has the devil in him, as long as he can control it then there's no problem," Sasuke replied without any malice in his voice.

Naruto just looked at Sasuke and at that moment Sasuke thought Naruto was going to hug him.

"You even think about doing anything and your face will be hitting the pavement," Sasuke warned him.

"Anyway, now that we've settled one thing, another matter needs attention," Kaitou said. He turned to the genin and said, "Naruto, put your shirt back on, Sasuke take yours off."

Naruto and Sasuke did as they were told.

"So what exactly do you need for the..." Jiraiya stopped when he saw the seal on Sasuke's stomach, and then walked to notice another on his neck. "Okay, I take it you're the one responsible for the one on his stomach, and Orochimaru on his neck."

"Yes, but, unfortunately, it's only two elements, that won't be enough for a permanent binding, the maximum I estimate it would last is a year, I need you to finish the seal," Kaitou told him. "Remember, my specialty was storage and healing as far as seals goes, so as far as this goes, I did pretty well given that I'm out of my element," the jounin said to him.

"Fair enough," Jiraiya said as he started to examine the seal. "Now, what exactly is it?"

"I don't know, but it isn't one of the bijuu because they've been accounted for," Kaitou told him. "Speaking of which, you might want to take a look at the Kazekage's youngest, he has the traits and abilities of the Ichibi, he rings around his eyes and the abilities to manipulate sand," he said after a thought.

"After I take care of this one," the sennin said as he instructed the Uchiha to lie on his back.

"First question, is this going to hurt, and if so, how long?" Sasuke asked the sannin as he laid down.

"Most likely, and my estimate would probably be around two to five hours, good thing you're not fully developed or it could take days to properly readjust your chakra circulatory system," Jiraiya said to the Uchiha. "After the long pain, you'll have access to power and reserves you wouldn't even think could exist."

"Fair enough, second question, Sabaku no Gaara is a jinchuuriki?" Sasuke asked him. "Although it would explain his thirst for blood."

"That is most likely the case, jinchuuriki don't exactly live the easiest lives, though one of them has made it to becoming a kage," Jiraiya said to them. "He isn't the current kage of the village at the moment. I had met his successor, and I must say she certainly passes in my book."

"Disregarding Jiraiya's previous statement, despite their hard lives, quite a few jinchuuriki have lived to be quite successful as far as shinobi goes, Naruto is currently the youngest at this point in time and the oldest is in Iwagakure," Kaitou told them.

"However, there are some villages that still don't understand that despite their differences, the jinchuuriki are still human, and therefore try to keep themselves as far away from them as they can," Jiraiya told them with a serious tone.

"Anyway, you might need this," Kaitou said as handed Jiraiya a scroll.

"What's this?" the sannin asked.

"It's the design and structure to the seal that I used on Sasuke, use that to finish it, and make some adjustments so I can make use of it for a permanent seal if need be," Kaitou told him as he walked over to Naruto. Kaitou then asked Naruto, "It's after the preliminaries, now why are you wearing those goggles?"

"Actually, I'm wearing them to cover my eyes," Naruto replied smartly.

Kaitou looked at Naruto with an annoyed expression and said, "I meant why are you covering your eyes? And please give me a good reason."

Naruto just shrugged and pulled off the goggles, he closed his eyes for a bit until he opened them and said, "This is why I needed to keep my eyes covered."

Kaitou could only look with his mouth agape.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"I said give me a good reason to keep your eyes covered, not a fantastic reason," Kaitou said with his mouth still agape.

"Are these eyes really that special?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Not only that, but this proves that you have more family than just me," Kaitou said as he sat down. He motioned for Naruto to do the same.

Naruto complied, wondering what the jounin was thinking.

Kaitou was watching Jiraiya work on the seal he'd placed on Sasuke, taking note of everything.

The sannin saw everything that Kaitou had did and what he saw really impressed him. Although he didn't expect the seal to be too much trouble, he didn't know that all he would have to work on was the filtering process and reconfiguration of the chakra coils, 'This is going to be a great deal easier than expected, the seal is apparently meant to bind and completely trap whatever is inside the vessel until either the time limit runs out or the seal is completed, Kaitou you really are a piece of work.' The sannin then started marking on Sasuke and leaving notes for Kaitou and others who find need to use the seal. When Jiraiya was finished with all of the markings he said to Sasuke, "Alright, brace yourself, because this is really going to hurt." Jiraiya then place his hand on Sasuke's stomach and pumped his chakra into the seal and it started to alter, adding more to it than before.

After a few seconds Sasuke didn't feel anything and was voicing it, "Was that it? Because that wasn't really..." And the Uchiha then started to feel a small problem coming from his stomach, it was gradually increasing until it reached his entire body, Sasuke was screaming at this point.

Kaitou walked over and place a few tags around Sasuke, the jounin then made a few hand seals and all the seals started glowing and Sasuke couldn't be heard by the rest of the group.

"What did you do?" Naruto asked.

"It's a silencing barrier, he will not be able to leave the barrier until I release it, and that won't be until his chakra coils have been restructured," Kaitou explained to his nephew. "Anyway as far as his situation goes, this will probably be the most physically painful process he has to go through throughout his entire shinobi career, so if he can take this, then there won't be any other physical problems he can't handle. And given how much he's gone through psychologically, he'd most likely be an extremely valuable asset to the village."

"Alright then, is there anything else you need me for?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yes, are you aware of Naruto's current abilities? Because I can't say that I know everything what he's capable of, given you've taught someone with Naruto's elemental affinities, I figured you'd probably be the best teacher for this situation," Kaitou said the sannin.

Jiraiya took a brief glance at Naruto before turning back to Kaitou and asking, "What do you mean ba, ba, ba, baaaaaaa..." and this was all he could do as he did a double take at Naruto.

"I know how you feel," Kaitou said as he place his hand on Jiraiya's shoulder.

"When did this start?" the sennin asked.

"Apparently in the forest, most likely during the battle with Orochimaru, considering it's the only time where he would have been in a situation that lives depended on him," Kaitou said to him.

Naruto was looking at them with a confused expression as he asked, "Are my eyes really that important?"

"Naruto, are you even aware of the significance of your eyes?" Jiraiya asked rhetorically.

"Would I be asking otherwise?" Naruto retorted.

"Good point," the sannin replied.

"Naruto, those eyes are the Rinnegan, the same as the eyes of the Rikudo Sennin, supposedly the father to all that is shinobi today," Kaitou explained to his nephew.

"Not only that, I taught someone with the Rinnegan, he was also the one with the affinities to all five elements," Jiraiya told him.

Kaitou's eyes widened. "He failed to mention _that_ little piece of information," Kaitou said with severe annoyance in his voice.

The two just looked at Kaitou with confused gazes.

"What are you talking about? Why would you be annoyed because of that?" Jiraiya asked, wondering what Kaitou was talking about.

"I wasn't talking about you," Kaitou replied.

"Then who _were_ you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"Nagato is the current leader of Amegakure, he killed the previous leader and all who were blood related to him as well," Kaitou told the sannin. "Although with the state he's in, you'd be surprised about his power."

"How so?" Jiraiya asked.

"He has to remain on life support or he'll more than likely, die," Kaitou told him. "One of the most powerful men in all the elemental nations, and he's in such a vulnerable state, mainly because of Hanzo and Danzo, which is the main reason why the elder is pending an investigation in the first place."

"Wait, how do _you_ know all of this?" Jiraiya asked, wondering how Kaitou could know stuff that even _he_ didn't.

Kaitou sighed as he told the sannin, "I know this because Nagato _told_ me. I arrived at Ame shortly after Hanzo was killed and Nagato took control. He certainly knows how to run the village considering there haven't been any civil wars since then. I requested to see the leader, and a blue haired kunoichi came to me with paper wings. She had an origami flower in her hair."

"Konan," Jiraiya gasped.

"That was Konan?" Kaitou asked.

"I wouldn't have been sure if you hadn't confirmed it with your descriptions, Konan had blue hair and a talent for origami, she must have advanced enough to incorporate it into her fighting style," the sannin said. "If they're still alive, then perhaps Yahiko is too."

"My apologies for dashing your hopes, but the only ones I saw were Konan and Nagato, and with Nagato in the state he's in, I doubt that Yahiko is still alive," Kaitou said regretfully. "Mind you, I don't actually know what Yahiko looks like so I can't really be sure."

"Well, at least I have hope," Jiraiya shrugged.

"Before you jump the gun on anything, I will have to request that you don't do anything rash and try and confront Nagato, he currently will attack anyone he sees as a threat, even if it's you, you must first convince him that you are only there to talk and nothing else," Kaitou told the sannin. "I'd rather not have the one that Minato entrusted to teaching Naruto to die so soon."

"But what about..." Jiraiya asked, indicating Naruto.

"You dumbass, he's known since the first night when we met, which is the main reason why he attacked you when he first met you," Kaitou told the man.

"Is that all? Thank god, for a while there I thought he hated perverts," Jiraiya sighed in relief.

"I do, and it gave me another reason to attack you," Naruto brought his two cents in. "I'm not going to attack someone for being themselves, but I will do so for neglecting their duties, no matter what kind of other obligations you had, the well being of someone who you knew was alive should have been top priority, which is the only reason why Kaitou-ji hasn't been on the receiving end of any malice. You can't fault someone who didn't even know nor had any means to find out. That being said I won't do anything since I got all my agression out on you."

Jiraiya just shrugged.

"Anyway, I'll be taking care of Sasuke for the duration of this month, and although I can only help him with his raiton chakra training, what you have taught him so far should suffice as far as his katon chakra, especially if he's been sneaking his sharingan here and there to help mold his chakra properly, add a Kage bunshin or two and you've got yourself an efficient means for training. Although in this case, I'll probably need to amp up his training because his reserves are going to rival yours now," Kaitou indicated Naruto as he spoke to them both.

"Well, if he was, at least he was using them for constructive purposes, especially when he helped Kiba a few times," the sannin replied with a thought.

"Huh, that's the first time I have ever heard of Sasuke willingly helping someone out without any benefit to himself," Naruto said as he looked at the Uchiha with a bit more respect as said Uchiha was still writhing in pain.

Kaitou watched the Uchiha, not envying what he was feeling at this point in time.

Jiraiya watched for a bit until he got bored and said, "Alright, there's nothing really going on here, so I'll be taking Naruto for special training."

"I take it toad summoning?" Kaitou asked.

"Still as sharp as always, except I'm going to help him control his second source of chakra," the sannin replied as he walked away from the jounin.

Naruto followed, knowing that he was in for something good. He had heard of how well Jiraiya incorporated summoning into his fighting style, and figured he would want that in his arsenal should he be fighting someone well beyond his capabilities. With that they left the jounin to keep an eye on the Uchiha.

Kaitou watched and thought for a bit before summoning a Kage bunshin and leaving in a puff of smoke.

Kaitou appeared in front of a residence and knocked on the door.

A woman who looked to be in her mid to late thirties(not that she would ever admit it) opened the door after a few seconds, she had pink hair of her own, although there appeared to be a few gray streaks within them. Seeing Kaitou just standing there got her to blush a bit, Kaitou was exceptionally appealing to the eyes most females and certain males, so seeing him standing there wasn't an unpleasant surprise to her.

"Pardon this question, but is this the Haruno residence?" Kaitou asked as he greeted her with a bow.

"Hai. Is there anyone in particular you are looking for?" she asked, curious about the man.

"Hai, is Sakura in at this point in time?" Kaitou asked.

"She is, but she's far too young for you," the woman replied, assuming the worst.

Kaitou just sighed as he pulled out his hitae-ate.

"Are you saying that she left her hitae-ate somewhere? Nice try but she came home with hers yesterday," the woman replied with a glare.

"I'm not saying that it's hers, this is mine, proof that I am a Konoha shinobi, I am her sensei," Kaitou explained to the woman. "Now before you jump to any more conclusions may I have the name of the one making the accusations?"

"Hara," the woman replied. "And don't feed me this bullshit about being her sensei, her sensei is Hatake Kakashi, and I've seen him around Konoha."

"Alright, Hara-san, if I may explain my position as a sensei at the moment, Sakura is among the nine rookies that participated in the Chuunin Selection Exam that I along with a few other shinobi have been training in the usage of elemental chakra training, I am the one who is currently teaching her how to use doton chakra, which she has made some progress with, now another thing you aren't aware of is that I am also the proctor for the next portion of the Chuunin Selection Exam, mostly to keep others from playing favorites, but anyway my name..." but Kaitou couldn't finish his statement as he started feeling drowsy so he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper as he fell down in the doorway face first.

Sakura walked down to see who was at the door only to see Kaitou nearly fall on Hara, and he would have if Hara hadn't jumped back in alarm. She sweat dropped at the exchange as she asked, "How exactly did he keep himself from getting killed in the past?"

Hara looked at Sakura and asked, "Sakura, do you know this man?"

"Hai, Okaa-san, his name is Kaitou and he's my main sensei for elemental chakra training, more specifically doton chakra, he's also been teaching me a few taijutsu styles to help me in the future, he is also the proctor for the next portion of the Chuunin Exam. He is also a narcoleptic so don't be surprised if you see him fall down in the middle of a crowd, just make sure he doesn't land on you because that jacket isn't lite," Sakura replied to her.

Hara just looked at the man, slightly relieved that the man had no interest in her daughter. She then asked, "Why is he here?"

"He probably came over to train me, he and Jiraiya-sama were the only ones in the group that could teach me given that my elemental affinity is earth," Sakura replied to her mother. She then looked him over and saw that he was holding a piece of paper. She opened it and the note read.

_If you are reading this, I have fallen asleep. My narcoleptic behaviors are not something I can control so don't try to wake me up. I am a heavy sleeper in this state so best just to make sure that I'm not in the way._

_Sorry to inconvenience you._

_- Kaitou_

Hara shrugged as she bent over to pull Kaitou out of the doorway.

Sakura ran over and said, "Best let me, you're not a shinobi, and even with how he pushes us he is still too heavy to carry with his jacket on."

Hara nodded and let Sakura take over.

Sakura took a deep breath and reinforced her muscles to take the strain. She then started to drag Kaitou out of the doorway, knowing that, despite her training, she knew it wasn't enough to move him off the ground.

When Kaitou wasn't in the doorway and the door itself was closed, Hara spoke up, "You mentioned Jiraiya-sama, I wasn't aware that you were being trained by one of the sannin."

"Truth be told, I'm not being personally trained by him, he's only teaching the portion of the group that has the affinity for fire because we don't currently have another sensei with an affinity to fire," Sakura explained to her mother.

"Well as long as Kaitou doesn't attempt anything with you then there won't be any problem," Hara replied.

Sakura just sweat dropped as she said, "Kaa-san, I know some people are sick, but do you really think someone would go up to a person's house looking for someone specific just to molest them? That just screams arrest me or I want my ass kicked, especially if their target is a shinobi."

Hara gave her daughter an embarrassed look as she said, "I see your point."

A few hours passed and Kaitou woke up. He saw that he wasn't standing in the doorway anymore as he pushed himself off of the ground.

"Oh good, you're up, I don't want an unexpected guest staying the night, especially when my husband gets home," Hara told him as Sakura walked over.

"Gomen, this isn't something I can control so it really isn't up to me," Kaitou admitted as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Anyway sensei, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked him.

"Training, that is _I_ need to train _you_," Kaitou said to the pink-haired kunoichi.

"But what about everyone else?" Sakura asked.

"Jiraiya is taking care of Naruto and Sasuke is a little..." Kaitou pause for a bit and asked. "How long have I been out?"

"Four hours," Sakura replied to him.

"Crap, I need to get back to Sasuke," Kaitou said with alarm in his voice. "Sakura, hold onto me, because we are in a hurry."

Sakura nodded as she took a hold of his coat.

"Sorry for falling asleep and not having tea but we're in a rush, so pardon me if I seem rude, especially if you don't know much about me," Kaitou told Hara as he put his hand up in a one-handed seal.

"I don't mind, you certainly have manners and are well prepared given your problem, but next time, give future notice about coming over," Hara told him with a nod.

Kaitou nodded as he molded chakra and both Sakura and he left in a puff of smoke.

With Sasuke...

Sasuke woke up in a cavern-like structure. He was confused because the last thing he could remember was Jiraiya finishing a seal and then excrutiating pain. He looked around as he said, "Hello?" All he heard were echoes for a moment until he heard another voice.

"**Come to me, cub,"** the voice said.

Sasuke, although a tad shaken given the power he felt from that voice, complied and walked forward, given that he had nothing else to do at the moment. It took him a few minutes but he finally came out in a main chamber that looked like it could fit the Hokage office. The area was lit with several torches, giving it an ominous appearance. He looked around and noticed that there was an opening with what looked like prison bars made of stone and a piece of paper on it with the kanji for seal on it. He approached the prison-like opening and as he did, he noticed that the air was gradually getting colder.

"**Konnichiwa, cub,"** the voice said. It came from the confinement area.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he said, "Cub, I'm not a wolf or a bear."

"**No, but **_**I**_** am,"** the voice said as the owner walked into the light.

It was then that the voice belonged to a grey wolf that was around fifty feet high while on all fours. It had eleven scars on its body, one across its face from the left of its forehead across the bridge of its nose to its left cheek, one on the top of its left front paw and on the front of said leg. The same scarring could be said for the other front leg, the hind legs had one scar each that was diagnal and looked like it was mad in one stroke. There were three scars on its stomach and one on its back. All of the scars looked like burn marks in combination with either a whip or something sharp.

"First and second questions, who are you and are you male or female?" Sasuke asked the wolf.

"**I have long since forgotten the name given to me by the ones who have brought me into this world, however my rival gave me a name after I had battled it, causing the scars you see now, the name was Soukon, you may refer to me as such, and I am male,"** the wolf, now identified as Soukon said to Sasuke.

"Well, I'm glad that's one thing I won't have to deal with, horny fangirls are annoying," Sasuke spoke his thoughts to the wolf.

"**I've seen how some female humans have acted, given that wolves mate for life I can see how that would be problematic,"** Soukon told the Uchiha.

"Third question, where are we?" Sasuke asked. "This place seems familiar yet new at the same time."

"**We are inside your mind, now if I may have your name, I haven't exactly had a chance to look into your memories,"** Soukon told Sasuke

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, whether or not you know the significance of my name doesn't really bother me," Sasuke told the wolf.

"**Be that as it may, my vessel being the survivor of a blessed and cursed clan certainly seems like it wouldn't be that problematic as long as the vessel understands that he shouldn't rely too much on one skill,"** Soukon told him.

"I know what you mean, I read the scroll about how to acheive the final form of my bloodline and I can honestly say that I'll jump into a pool of acid before I go that far," Sasuke admitted to the wolf.

"**Not a good idea, it would only hurt, it wouldn't kill you now that I'm inside you, my abilities include rapid regeneration of your cells, therefore increasing your healing rate, this will also increase your life span as long as you don't get too many life threatening injuries, or use more of my power than your body can take,"** Soukon told him.

"Anyway, how did you come to be inside of me?" Sasuke asked.

"**I was following a fox scent during the night of the full moon, when I found the source, I was surprised to see an exhausted kunoichi with pink hair that smell of sakura blossoms protecting you and the one with the scent of the fox as well as ramen, she seemed frightened of me but she didn't run, despite her tired state, so I knocked her unconscious to allow her body to rest and was about to leave. I had believed I had failed when I felt traces of youkai, I followed the traces to the one with the fox and ramen scents, the youkai source was being forcefully restrained by something so I decided to help and weakened the restraint a bit to allow him to use it more. I decided to look at you and it was then that I heard you mutter words in your sleep, you mentioned something about it being the full moon and battling a fox that turned into Naruto, whoever **_**that**_** is. I felt a taint trying to take control of you, so I decided to take my chances and help you, I kept whatever was trying to taint you in check, all I did was bite you and through that I transferred my soul into your body, normally this would have been seriously risky but the seal that was giving off the taint allowed my soul to enter you,"** Soukon told him.

"But what about your body?" Sasuke asked.

"**It wasn't my body, but the one of a man, if you could even call him one, that attempted to rape a woman, I may be instinctive, but the moment a woman doesn't submit then it isn't consentual,"** Soukon told Sasuke. **"Many have died since my body was destroyed, all of which were guilty of high crimes."**

"So you have a sense of honor," Sasuke concluded.

"**Not so much as an understanding of right and wrong and knowing which criminals wouldn't be missed by society,"** Soukon told the Uchiha.

"Were you able to transfer to different bodies whenever you wanted?" Sasuke asked.

"**Not quite, I don't like needless deaths so I only did so when I needed to, I only did so when the body couldn't handle the strain of my power, which was every three months, and I could only move to another body during the full moon,"** Soukon told him.

"That certainly explains why you're here now," Sasuke told the wolf. "Now this last question is more to confirm, you are a demon I take it."

"**Ah,"** Soukon replied.

"Who is or was your rival?" Sasuke asked.

"**Well, there is no point in trying to hide it, since I'm stuck you might as well know, it is the Kyuubi no Yoko,"** Soukon replied to him.

"Then you were on the right track, because you were following the right fox scent," Sasuke told him.

"**How so?"** Soukon asked the Uchiha.

"Naruto, the one that carried the fox and ramen scents, has the Kyuubi sealed within him, I don't know why the Kyuubi attacked Konoha in the first place, but I know the basis of why the Kyuubi is there," Sasuke told the wolf.

"**I guess fate works in mysterious ways,"** Soukon commented to him.

"I guess it does," Sasuke replied. "Now what are all the benefits and set backs of this situation? The whole situation about people knowing is low considering, at most, only three even know about my status at the moment. Speaking of that, what happened to the seal that you said was trying to corrupt me?"

"**When I reconfigured your chakra circulatory system and increased the size of your coils and reserves, the seal couldn't take the strain and was forced off completely,"** Soukon told the Uchiha.

"Well, that's one thing I don't have to worry about," Sasuke replied.

"**And all the benefits will reveal themselves in time, the list is long, so you may want to sit down for the duration, not that it would affect you in the real world, since we are in your head, time passes a great deal faster than in the real world, when I finish, I estimate that only around five minutes, if that, will have passed,"** Soukon told his vessel.

"Okay then, start listing," Sasuke said as he sat down with his legs crossed.

The real world...

Kaitou and Sakura appeared in a puff of smoke and saw that Sasuke was laying down in an odd position. That being said Kaitou released his barrier and checked the vitals of the Uchiha.

Sakura just blushed at Sasuke's shirtless status.

Kaitou sighed in relief as he saw that Sasuke had gone through the pain and was sleeping at this point in time. He then looked at all the blood around the Uchiha and started wiping it away, "He seems to be taking to this nicely, looks to me like his healing has already started to increase."

"Ano, what exactly happened to him?" Sakura asked the blond.

"A sealing completion, Jiraiya had finished the seal I had initially placed on him shortly after he arrived at the tower," Kaitou explained as he started to stretch Sasuke's muscles.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked.

"I'm stretching him, what he went through, he'll need a good stretch to properly use his muscles after he wakes up," Kaitou told the kunoichi as he started pulling Sasuke's arms behind him.

"Well, since I'm awake now, will you put me down?" Sasuke asked rhetorically.

Kaitou was a tad perplexed by the fact that the Uchiha had just woken up. He would have expected him to be asleep for at least a day. He shrugged as he turned Sasuke and noticed that although there were faint signs of burns on his skin, the seal that Orochimaru bestowed onto the Uchiha was no longer there.

"If you're looking for the seal that was trying to corrupt me, it was completely removed when Soukon readjusted my chakra circulatory system and coils," Sasuke told his sensei.

"Is that demon's name?" Kaitou asked.

"Ah, he's a wolf with gray fur and eleven scars all over his body, and, get this, he's Kyuubi's rival," Sasuke told him.

"I think that'll be convenient," Kaitou said as he looked around for a bit but paused when he realized that Sakura was still there.

Sakura was giving them a confused look as she processed what she had just heard.

"I take it you have absolutely no clue as to what's going on," Kaitou told her as Sasuke put his shirt on.

Sakura could only shake her head.

"Tell her, Sasuke, I'm not at liberty or within my rights to telling a secret that's yours," Kaitou ordered the Uchiha.

"Alright then, Sakura, do you recall a wolf or some sort of creature approaching our group during the first night of the second portion of the exam?" Sasuke asked her, hoping that she would so he didn't have to explain that part.

"Wasn't that just a dream? I had fallen asleep while watching over you and Naruto," Sakura inquired.

"It wasn't a dream, because he had explained to me that you had stood your ground against him, despite being exhausted, it being the night and him clearly being more powerful, he knocked you unconscious so that your body would be properly rested for the next day," Sasuke told her.

"Impressive, foolish, but still, you stayed to defend your team, you understand their value. More than that you showed courage where you could have ran, that makes you more of a shinobi than most I've, and I've seen Kages who have proven to be cowards," Kaitou admitted.

"Arigatou," Sakura said as she bowed her head.

"Soukon said he helped with what Orochimaru did to him before looking at me, he saw that my chakra was being overcome by some form of corruption, but it wasn't until I muttered a few choice words in my sleep, more specifically about it being the full moon and something else that he decided to help me out, he bit me and transferred his soul into my body, the rest of the forest, you already know about," Sasuke told her.

"Orochimaru helped in that if it weren't for the seal he had placed on Sasuke, the wolf's soul would have taken over Sasuke completely, however, it was instead battling to keep the corruption down, it wasn't until the Soukon's soul was properly bound that Sasuke could use his chakra efficiently, I used a temporary seal to bind the soul, Jiraiya finished it today so he could have proper access to the chakra of the wolf," Kaitou finished for him.

"And that hurt like hell," Sasuke replied.

"Just like I warned it would," Kaitou said to him.

"So what you're saying is that Sasuke-kun now has a demon sealed within him," Sakura concluded.

"And your thoughts are?" Kaitou asked.

"As long as it doesn't change him, whether or not he has something sealed within him doesn't matter to me, I mean what would that make me if I don't accept my team mate for something that he can't even control," Sakura replied with conviction in her eyes.

"That certainly sounds like you have the support of both of your team mates to me," Kaitou told the Uchiha.

"You mean Naruto knows?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, and I know for fact that he will support in any way he can," Kaitou answered.

"Does Kakashi-sensei know, or anyone else for that matter?" Sakura asked, wondering how well kept this secret was.

"No, though I also know that Kakashi will be providing the necessary support, and the Hokage will have to be notified soon," Kaitou said with a thought.

'Both make sense, if Kakashi knew about Naruto and treated him the way he does then he won't be any different with me, and the Hokage is obligated to know everything that goes on within the village walls, and during all missions,' Sasuke thought to himself.

"Now that this is over, you two are going to be training under me for the next month or so, and before you say anything, they can't complain about conflict of interest, that only holds when it comes to relations by law, marriage or blood, and I don't play favorites anyway so there is nothing to complain about," Kaitou told them as he snapped his fingers. "First question, did you two bring your weights?"

Both nodded and pulled out a scroll each. They opened them and swiped some of their blood on them and, in a puff of smoke, their training jackets and leg weights appeared.

"Before you put them on, Sakura will be making four kage bunshin, while Sasuke, given his current situation, will make twenty, before that, however, Sasuke, you take one of these," Kaitou pulled a small bag out of his pocket. He reached in and pulled out a small, black, spherical object.

"Sensei, what is that?" Sakura asked.

"It's a soldier pill, as a man who has studied medicine, I found that using these is very benificial when it comes to certain jutsu, I also have blood restoration tablets and food pills to increase your chakra flow for wild jutsu, the same kind that the Inuzuka clan uses," Kaitou explained to them as he handed the pill to Sasuke. "What, are you interested? I can teach you the basics if you want. It might come in handy during the finals."

"Later, after we have finished combat training," Sakura told him as Sasuke ingested the pill.

"Alright, make the number of kage bunshin," Kaitou told them as he made two of his own.

Both nodded and did so.

Sakura, given that she only needed to make four, only had one element to learn, already had a head start with said element and was familiar with the teaching methods of this man as far as doton chakra had it easier than Sasuke, who has never made this many kage bunshin before, was working on another element along with his initial one, never had anyone to teach him anything about raiton chakra and was never taught under Kaitou for any element was going to have a great deal of difficulty at first.

Kaitou looked at the two as he told them, "You bunshin are only to dispel one at a time, it'll allow you to process things easier, especially you Sasuke, given that you're still working on your katon chakra, speaking of which." Kaitou pulled out two pieces of chakra paper and gave them the Sasuke.

"We already know my elemental affinities," Sasuke replied to him.

"That may be, but we don't know if Soukon has affected your chakra in any way," Kaitou explained to him. "Better for you to get the most information out of this situation."

"Whatever," Sasuke replied as he molded his chakra in both. The one his his left hand did nothing while the one in his right tore into shreds with some falling to the ground on fire, others turning to dust others wet and the last ones wrinkling up.

"And now we have _two_ special cases, looks like Soukon carries the abilities of earth, water and wind, this will affect your chakra for the rest of you life," Kaitou stated with a thought.

"Okay, so now I have three more elements to work on," Sasuke replied.

"Don't get a big head, you're most likely the first Uchiha jinchuuriki so the circumstances were unpredictable," Kaitou told him. He saw Sasuke's kage bunshins and said to them, "Ten of you, finish up your katon chakra training, the next twenty will be working with one of my Kage bunshins for raiton chakra, and the last twenty will be working with Sakura's and my other one for doton chakra."

The bunshins all nodded and divided up as such.

Kaitou shouted to them, "I will only repeat this once, do _not_ dispel all at once, it'll cause too much strain on the user and probably get him to mix up information, the max you can dispel in one group is four, Sakura won't have nearly as much trouble because she only has four bunshins and their all doing the same thing. Now, all of you, get to work."

Sasuke and Sakura watched as he commanded the masses.

Kaitou turned to the two as he said, "Sasuke, where did you learn the Kage buyo? Because I didn't teach you and Gai is too prideful to teach something like that to the student of someone he considers a rival, and Kakashi wouldn't teach you that unless you were ready."

Sasuke sweat dropped as he asked, "You're saying that he's _prideful_ considering the way he acts."

"Believe it or not, yes, despite his excentricities, he carries a great deal of pride to teach something that is potentially dangerous to anyone else, unless there is no other means for them gaining strength, that being said, Lee will probably be one of your bigger threats if you win against Naruto, I would have said you won't have that kind of problem because you'd _lose_ to Naruto, but Soukon pretty much evens out the playing field for you. Of course, that's assuming you win your match against Nami. She's a gifted taijutsu user with exceptional genjutsu and above average ninjutsu, and she loves to show off, so don't take her lightly. You're goin to have to break out the bigs guns with her if you intend to stand a chance," Kaitou explained to the Uchiha.

"And what about me sensei?" Sakura asked, curious about her chances.

"I don't need to tell you of your chances in you first match, you're going against someone who uses genjutsu and with a water affinity. Since you're a genjutsu type, that gives you the advantage of being able to dispel them, your elemental affinity is already the one that usually wins against water and you have the advantage with taijutsu, because Ame doesn't actually have the best record when it comes to taijutsu users. Not only that, you're facing Shikamaru next. You placed second in intelligence to him, and the fact that I've been training _you_ not only longer, but in more variety and the fact that you still have your final trump card, I would have to say that your chances against him are extremely good, you just need to get into a situation where he can't use his head, shadow or any water," Kaitou told her.

"Easier said than done, sensei," Sakura replied.

"Whether or not it is, I know you can pull it off," Kaitou told her as he snapped his fingers and pointed downward. "Alright, now both of you start pushing, recent circumstances have allowed you to relax, but you two are in top form, I'll make your top form even better."

The two genin knew better than to argue with their sensei, not that they could find a sound argument given that his training has, infact, made them stronger. With that their training began.

With Naruto and Jiraiya...

"Alright, gaki, how much as Kaitou told you?" the sannin asked the genin.

"He said my heritage, both sides, not that he knew about my mother very well, because he admitted he didn't. He mentioned both otou-san's incomplete technique and his signature technique. He told me about _your_ responsibilities," Naruto said to him.

"Gomen, gaki, but I couldn't take you with me, that would put a big target on the back of your head in Iwa," Jiraiya told him.

"Understandable, but I still say that you had that beating coming to you," Naruto replied. "Anyway, he also made me promise not to learn either technique until I can bring my state as a shinobi to a whole new level. Power, knowledge, control and skill."

"Well, then you have the right teacher, my students became great, and since I'm only teaching you instead of two others, I think this will be a very useful experience, now how about we start with this," Jiraiya said as he bit his thumb, swiped the blood on his other hand and went through three hand signs. "Kuchiyose no jutsu," he said as he slammed his hand on the ground.

A toad with a scroll in its mouth appeared and brought the scroll down with its tongue.

Naruto just asked, "You're teaching me how to summon?"

"Ah, this can be very useful in the future. Kakashi summons dogs that he trained himself. Anko was actually trained extensively by Orochimaru and she signed the contract for the snakes. My other team mate, Senju Tsunade, has signed the contract for slugs and even Sarutobi-sensei has a contract with monkeys," Jiraiya opened the scroll and showed Naruto the names. "Take a look at the last person to sign the contract."

Naruto looked at the names and was surprised to read the name, _Namikaze Minato_.

"Minato was a brilliant student, a masterful seal user and a magnificent summoner, with these abilities, he gave his life to seal the Kyuubi, now I believe it's time you start living up to the legacy you were born into, and that includes calling me a more respectable title," Jiraiya told the genin.

"Fat chance, Ero-sennin," Naruto replied to him. He looked at the scroll and asked, "I know I should sign my name and it looks like in blood, but I have to wonder, should I use the surname that I've been so use to or my rightful title?"

"I'll leave that decision to you, it really doesn't make a difference either way, the moment you sign in blood, the contract is sealed for life, and after the name is signed, you have to put your fingerprints and thumbprint of the signing hand, obviously, also in your blood," Jiraiya said to him.

Naruto shrugged as he thought for a bit and then decided. He bit his thumb and started signing, 'Na Mi Ka Ze Na Ru To,' and he pressed his thumbs to each finger and pressed them and his thumb to the end of the space he had signed.

"Well, it doesn't make a difference if you have balls here, no one but the summoners of this contract ever get to see the names anyway," Jiraiya showed Naruto the hand signs necessary.

"So I just focus as much chakra as possible when I summon?" Naruto asked him.

"Well, maybe not _that_ much, we don't want you summoning a boss just yet," Jiraiya told the genin.

Naruto nodded and summoned around the average amount he normally used for around one hundred Kage bunshin, he bit his thumb and went through the hand signs and slammed his hand on the ground shouting, "Kuchiyose no jutsu."

In a puff of smoke a light-orange toad appeared beneath Naruto's feet. The toad was around half Jiraiya's height while a third wider than him.

Jiraiya looked impressed as he commented on Naruto's summoning, "Not bad, gaki, you managed to summon a decent one on the first try. How much chakra did you use?"

"I used about the amount I normally use for one hundred Kage bunshin. How big do you think I would have made had I done one thousand?" Naruto asked.

"Probably not the boss Gamabunta, but anyway, I think it's time we started a little on more of your elemental training, I'll teach you how to use katon chakra for the duration," Jiraiya told the genin. The sannin held his hand out and focused a bit, with that a flame appeared in his hand. "Katon chakra isn't the easiest to master, but it is among the two nature types that the user can master anywhere. The other one is raiton. This is because katon and raiton chakra require no real object to properly mold. Raiton chakra you need to make a current within yourself and keep it constant, and the longer the current, the more difficult it is to master, while katon chakra, you need to make a flame with your chakra alone, through this you can mold your chakra easier and theoretically use any kind of katon jutsu created," Jiraiya explained to the genin.

"But you don't use raiton jutsu, how do you understand the concept?" Naruto asked him.

"I considered learning raiton chakra usage, but decided against it and learned more defensive jutsu," Jiraiya explained. "Now enough stalling, let's get working, and then I might be able to help you learn how to control the Kyuubi's chakra later on."

"Yosha," Naruto said as he made one thousand bunshins.

* * *

End of Chapter

Omake...

Kaitou watched Sasuke and Sakura practice a bit more before he spoke to them. "Okay, you two, it's time to test your skills, I'll be holding a heavy amount back as we spar. And before you even begin, this is pure taijutsu, no ninjutsu or genjutsu, are we clear?"

Both nodded.

Kaitou created a bunshin and sent it to stand face to face with Sakura.

"This will be a fight where we face one another all at once, take off your weights and jackets so I can get a more accurate estimate of how much you've improved," Kaitou told them as he stood facing the two without taking a stance.

The two genin seemed more relieved that they could work without the weight at the moment.

"And remember this, although this is pure taijutsu, weapons are allowed as are taijutsu combinations," Kaitou informed them.

Both nodded as they took a stance of their own after they removed their weights.

"Now let's begin," Kaitou said to them.

Knowing that the two of them knew better than to rush opponents Kaitou started the sparring session. He and his bunshin were holding a heavy amount back as they threw small attacks to see how the two responded. After around a minute or so, he saw that he had gauged their strength enough, so he decided to have a little fun with them.

Sasuke threw his punch at the last moment, until he realized that something was wrong.

Sakura also threw her attack but found something amiss.

It wasn't until it was too late that they realized that their opponents were right behind them crouching with their hands in the tora seal.

"You two still need to bring your game up if you intend to beat me at this level, Sennen Goroshi," Kaitou and his bunshin said as they both performed the technique against the two genin.

The two were sent flying in two different directions.

It was during this that Sasuke thought to himself, 'Damn this is uncomfortable.'

Sakura was just wonder why such a rediculous technique even existed.

Kaitou called to them, "You two better hope you can sit down after this."

Had Kaitou been paying a bit more attention he would have noticed a chuunin was watching their movement.

The chuunin would have thought that this was just a training session, but the way he ended the spar made his start questioning the intent Kaitou had, especially considering the incident he witnessed when he left the room with the Uchiha a few days prior.

* * *

Anyway, there is chapter fourteen. Kind of odd, but still funny if you know where to look. The omake itself wasn't nearly as funny as the last one, but hey, I'm new to making Omakes so give me a break. Anyway R&R and give constructive criticism. And a final note, any and all Omakes, unless I specify otherwise, are to be considered apart of the storyline. And please, I enjoy praise, but I also enjoy people reviewing what they see as far as this fic goes.

_Jutsu list:_

_None to be listed at the moment._


	16. Chapter 15: A Well Kept Secret

**The Eye of the Beholder**

_Spoiler alert: There are spoilers of the most recent chapters of Naruto in this chapter, you have been warned. This specific spoiler proves that Uchiha Madara is full of shit._

_September 15, 2010_

_Translation: _

_Tsukigan - Moon Eyes, a little nickname that Naruto gave Neji because of how white hie eyes are._

_Shinjugan - Pearl Eyes, Similar, but in this case for Hinata_

_Review Replies:_

_Rose Tiger: Yes I will continue 'Jekyll and Hyde,__' I'm just a tad focused on a few other projects, that and I'm looking for work._

"Talking"

'Thinking'

_Flashbacks and Notes_

**Demons and Higher beings**

**Disclaimer: You get the drill, if I owned Naruto, do you really think I****'d be writing this.**

Chapter 15: A Well Kept Secret

* * *

Hinata was walking through her home when a member of the household approached her, "Hinata-sama, Hiashi-sama has requested to see you, he is currently in his office."

"Hai, I will go," was Hinata's reply and the house member stepped away from her. She wasn't sure about what her father wanted, but she had a clue. The Hyuuga heiress walked through the house until she reached one specific door. She knocked on the side because the door itself was a shouji and the knocking wouldn't have been heard. There was also the risk of accidentally causing a hole, which was a serious possibility given she hadn't had much experience without her weights on recently.

"Who knocks?" the voice of a grown man asked.

"Your eldest daughter, otou-sama," Hinata replied to him. "Permission to enter?"

"Granted," was all the voice said.

Hinata slid open the door and stepped in, she then closed said door and stepped forward, "You wished to see me, otou-sama?"

"Ah," the man replied. He was the clear image of Neji as an adult, save for the fact that he didn't wear his hitae-ate on his head, in fact, he wasn't wearing one at all. This man was Hyuuga Hiashi, head of the Hyuuga clan. He looked at his daughter as he said, "I've received word that you managed to make it to the final round of the Chuunin Selection Exam on your first try. Now, under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be a big issue, but the fact is, you along with eight others, were among the most recent graduates of Konoha's Shinobi Academy, meaning you have proven that you are capable in an exam which others have died."

"I thank you for the praise," Hinata bowed her head.

"The praise is well earned, even moreso if you acheive the rank, which I have little doubt that you are capable of, given how much you have improved for the past several weeks," Hiashi said to her with approval in his eyes. "Which leads me to wonder about the training that you had been undergoing. Would you please satisfy my curiosity as to what you have all been doing as far as training?"

"Hai, otou-sama," Hinata replied. She took a deep breath as she said, "The initial training regiment that I had taken included running several miles for an hour, different hours in working different muscles for as long as possible while still keeping up strain or working on endurance. All of this while wearing leg weights that measured to forty kilograms in weight each with jackets that carried forty ten-kilogram weights. For the past five weeks, however, the rookie nine, myself included, have been undergoing elemental training to help with difficult situations for serious missions." As Hinata finished she noted that Hiashi was trying his hardest to keep a cool facade, but the fact of the matter was, when he was given this kind of information, you tend to wonder if the one training them was in their right mind.

Hiashi took a deep breath to keep his cool, "Were you the only one to undergo this training?"

"Iie, the rest of my team alongside team 7 whom is under the sensei, Hatake Kakashi did this since the C-rank turned A-rank mission to Nami no Kuni, it wasn't until around five weeks ago that team 10 under the jounin sensei, Sarutobi Asuma, had started going through this as well," Hinata replied to her father.

On the outside Hiashi was calm and collected but on the inside, 'Great Kami-sama, that was nearly three months ago, it's no wonder she improved so much.' Hiashi closed his eyes to recollect himself as he thought of another question. Another thought came to his head as he thought about the elemental training, "Hinata, you specified undergoing elemental training, I'm not aware of every jounin's elemental affinity, but when it comes to rare elements in one country, especially considering who the person is, I have to question who all were instructing each element. And which elemental affinity was yours."

"Kakashi-sensei was instructing the raiton chakra group, Kurenai-sensei the suiton, Asuma-sensei the fuuton, Jiraiya-sama the katon and Kaitou-sensei the douton," Hinata told him, she would have continued, but Hiashi looked to be preoccupied at the moment.

"I wasn't aware he was back in Konoha," Hiashi voice his thoughts.

"Gomen, otou-sama, but which one are you talking about?" Hinata asked him. The fact of the matter is that Kaitou hasn't been seen in Konoha for some time and Jiraiya tends to come and go to relay information so it is rare for him to be staying in the village for a while.

"I was talking about Kaitou-san, he hasn't really been in Konoha for a while so it is a tad surprising for his to return all of the sudden, Jiraiya-sama isn't so surprising, what _is_, however, is that he would start training a batch of genin," Hiashi admitted to his daughter.

"Actually, otou-sama, Kaitou-sensei has been the main person to train us since the mission to Nami no Kuni, he was also the one that got Jiraiya-sama to assist in the training," Hinata told him.

"Kaitou always did know how to convince people," Hiashi admitted to his daughter. "Anyway, you haven't mentioned what elemental affinity your chakra is drawn to."

"Gomen, my elemental affinity is wind," Hinata admitted to her father. "I was the only genin who carried a single element to have this element."

"You mean there were those who had wind among other elements?" Hiashi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Iie, there was only one other, and he has been my partner in training as far as elemental training," Hinata said with a bit of admiration in her voice.

Hiashi raised his eyebrow again as he wondered, 'Was it this person who helped Hinata out of her shell?' Deciding to try and get the identity of the mystery partner he asked, "And who was your training partner for this portion of your training?"

Hinata looked away a bit as she said, "You might not like the answer given how he has been treated by the village and this clan in the past."

Hiashi sighed as he said, "I have a clue as to whom you are talking about, so let me be the first to say that I am not proud of how the elders of this clan have acted towards others in the past, more specifically two of the most promising shinobi I've seen since Namikaze Minato, Konoha's Kiroii Senko, otherwise known as Yondaime Hokage. I myself have nothing against two who have either lost everything truly dear to them, or had nothing to begin with. So rest assured that my opinion of any of your training partners is not as prejudiced as others."

"Arigatou, otou-sama, my training partner for the past five weeks has been Uzumaki Naruto," Hinata admitted to her father.

"I may have to thank him for helping you along," Hiashi admitted to his daughter. "From what I recall, Neji has also made it to the final portion of the exam. Do you have any information as to whom he is fighting? Which leaves me to question who _you_ are fighting as well."

"I will be fighting the fourth match against Neji-niisan's team mate, Rock Lee," Hinata told her father. "While Neji-niisan himself will be fighting Naruto-kun in the first match."

Hiashi gave a thoughtful look as he said, "I've heard good things about Rock Lee, especially considering he's the main apprentice of Konoha's Taijutsu Master, Maito Gai, who is also the sensei for the team. Neji has mentioned that although he has never lost a match against Lee, every time they spar, Lee becomes more difficult to defeat, which pretty much gets him to increase his own training regiment. What I'm saying is that you have your work cut out for you. Gai is known for his unorthodox, and often dangerous, training methods, which is why he is considered the best Konoha has to offer as far as taijutsu."

"I don't mean to be rude, but I can't take too much time here, or I might be late for my training," Hinata told her father.

"What I'm saying is that we need to continue where we left off as far as your training goes, you have the conditioning and most likely the strength to endure the more advanced training, which I am almost positive you will need to face your opponent," Hiashi told her.

"But what about..." Hinata started.

"Hanabi has started the academy, and I, therefore, can't train her as much as I could before. And don't get me wrong, I'm not doing this because I have nothing better to do, your opponent is someone you might not be able to defeat in your current condition. It's not that I don't believe in you, especially considering what you've demonstrated so far, it's just that I know for fact that Gai-san will be pushing his students to the brink to win their matches. You'll still be doing your conditioning training to ensure that you don't fall behind, and you will still be training under Asuma-san to finish your fuuton training, but now I will be personally drilling katas into you so that you will be able to prove yourself as worthy for the rank of chuunin. I will also be assisting you so you can master the different defensive and offensive techniques," Hiashi told his daughter.

Despite all of his reasoning and the facade he was putting up, Hinata could tell that Hiashi was just trying to say that he was worried for her, and that he would to whatever was in his power short of illegal activities, to ensure that she would walk away from this match.

"Arigatou, otou-sama, I will try my hardest to meet your standards," Hinata said to him as she bowed.

"There is no trying, you'll meet and pass my standards with no problems at all," Hiashi told his daughter. "Now go on, you mustn't be late."

She nodded and left the room.

Hiashi smiled as he thought to himself, 'Kaitou, you really have outdone yourself. She's stronger, more skilled, faster, but most importantly, she's more confident in her abilities. She keeps this up and the elders will have a great deal more to deal with than just me and otou-san.'

With Hinata...

Just as the heiress was about to leave the compound, Neji approached her.

"Hinata-sama, your team mate specified that he would allow me to meet his sensei for his elemental chakra training, you appear to be leaving to train yourself, would it be too much to ask to meet said sensei?" Neji asked her with cold politeness, only doing so for the sake of appearances, and to keep himself from being hurt.

"If you so wish, I'm not the one being trained by him, but if you speak with either Sasuke-kun or Kiba-kun, they might be able to point you in the right direction, you actually saw him right after the preliminaries," Hinata told her cousin with a smile.

"Who was it exactly?" Neji asked, a tad confused about that.

"The old man with the snake in the box and the scroll strapped to his back," Hinata explained replied as she started walking out. "He was also teaching Sasuke-kun how to use his katon chakra as well."

Neji quickly followed, wanting to know more about his opponent after Naruto, believing that although the blond had demonstrated exceptional capabilities and thought, there was no way he was going to lose.

Hinata told Neji, "I don't expect you to give out any information about your team mate for what I'm telling you."

"Not that it would do any good, Lee has become strong, despite his disabilities, and although Gai-sensei is crazy in my, and probably the rest of the village's, opinion, his training is certainly nothing to scoff at," Neji told her as he followed.

"Disabilities?" Hinata asked her cousin with a curious look.

"From what I've been told, Lee was born unable to mold chakra, rendering him completely unable to use ninjutsu and genjutsu, he then barely passed the academy with mediocre taijutsu at best, yet, despite all of this he was still allowed to become a shinobi, and although I saw his capabilities as futile, Lee has certainly surprised me by becoming a competent shinobi with only taijutsu, I may not like him, especially after he started to take after Gai-sensei, but I have to respect his strength and capabilities, despite his problems," Neji said with no coldness or sarcasm in his voice. "He has yet to actually beat me in a fight, but that's only because I am also serious when it comes to training, and I evaluate every possible outcome, Lee wears leg weights, I've only fought him once when he wasn't wearing them after he trained with Gai-sensei for a bit, and I can honestly say that I only barely won that one, it was around six months ago, but I still remember how much his punches hurt. I increased my own training regiment as such, I don't believe a dead last from the academy can beat a genius, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to push my luck. Lee is fast, and anyone who thinks that just because he can't mold chakra he won't be a challenge will just get their ass handed to them," Neji spoke his thoughts, forgeting who he was talking to.

Hinata, never seeing this side of Neji, wondered what else could he be hiding, "Would you consider Lee a friend?"

"An ally, yes, a friendly, albeit, overly obsessive, rival, perhaps, a valuable team mate, definitely, but as far as a friendship goes, it might be possible if I could stand his company," Neji said to her with a thoughtful look. "The only thing that keeps an active friendship from occurring is that annoying attitude, especially if he keeps challenging me. Honestly, he occasionally gets far too loud for me to stand," Neji said with a bit of frustration in his voice.

Hinata just giggled at Neji's words.

"Do you find something amusing, Hinata-sama?" Neji asked the heiress, his voice back to being cold and serious.

"Gomen, it's just this is the first time I've actually seen you frustrated in a long time, it's nice to know you have some of those aspects," Hinata said with a smile. She then motioned for him to follow her has she jumped up to the roof of one of the buildings.

Neji followed, relieved that they were quickening their pace.

With Kaitou and Sasuke...

Kaitou was drilling everything he could into the Uchiha as far as usage of Raiton chakra. He allowed Sasuke to use his Sharingan, simply because it helped him go through the training and mold the chakra better, use whatever advantage you have, regardless of what others think, this will allow him to be able to move through the basics quicker and give him more experience in molding that specific type of chakra. Said experience will allow the user to be able to use the chakra in more practical situations.

"Very good, you're adapting well despite your inexperience with this element, even with the Sharingan this is still a feet to be commended," Kaitou praised the Uchiha. "But don't get a big head, you still need to make the complete circuit through your body before you've completed the first step. Then you have to make the circuit flow through different matters starting with high conductors and increasing the insulation. You won't have mastered raiton chakra until you can make yours flow through a high insulator with little trouble and minimal damage to said insulator," The blonde man told Sasuke as he kept drilling the basics into him.

"Ah, the moment I start thinking I'm the best is the moment that I stop growing, and that is something I will not allow myself to do," Sasuke said as he focused with his hands together.

"Well as far as growing goes, your maximum physical growth should stop in about thirteen years. Speaking of ages, when exactly is your birthday?" Kaitou said with a thought.

"July 23," Sasuke replied.

"That sounds right, not to the day, but that was around nine months of conception, Fugaku could not shut up about the fact that he was going to have another child," Kaitou said with an annoyed voice. "The man may have been a good friend, but sometimes he just can't shut up about things he's proud to admit."

"I wouldn't know all that well," Sasuke replied.

"Anyway, that makes you about three and a half months older than Naruto, give or take a week," Kaitou told Sasuke.

"Wait, how did you know Naruto's birthday?" Sasuke asked.

"He told me, October 10, twelve and a half years ago," Kaitou then thought about something as he put his hand to his chin. He reached into his pockets, looking for something. After about a minute he finally pulled out a scroll that was marked 'Letters'. He opened the scroll and swiped some blood on one of the seals in the scroll. In a puff of smoke a letter appeared and Kaitou grabbed it out of the air. He held said letter in his mouth as he rolled the scroll back up and unfolded the letter. He checked the date of the letter before reading the content. He read it three times over before saying, "This doesn't make any sense."

"Okay, you've lost me," Sasuke admitted to the man.

"This isn't something I can openly share with many people, I have to speak with Hiruzen about this," Kaitou thought aloud as he pulled out a writing brush, pulled his left sleeve up, doing so amazed Sasuke at the tonage of his arm, and drew a seal. Kaitou then balanced the letter on the seal and he focused his chakra into the seal and with a poof and some smoke the letter was gone.

"Interesting way of doing things, I take it you don't do that to your body very often," Sasuke guessed with his sensei.

"Only with stuff that needs immediate storage and quick release, and this certainly falls under that category, especially considering that I'm going to speak with the Hokage about critical information _again_," Kaitou told the Uchiha. Kaitou then made a kage bunshin and said, "You know the drill."

"Ah," the bunshin said as Kaitou left.

"Whatever, it's none of my business," Sasuke replied to him as he resumed his training. "I doubt it's anything that would be cause for concern on my part anyway."

"It's only a theory at the moment, the original will tell you if it directly involves you," the bunshin said as he supervised Sasuke's training.

With Kaitou...

Kaitou walked into the Hokage's office with an irritated look. The secretary at the desk was about to try and keep him from entering but one look from the blond and she immediately shut up and continued what she was doing. Kaitou opened the door and saw Hiruzen doing the more paperwork than usual. He closed the door and place a seal on said door to keep others from hearing this conversation.

"To what do I owe the pleasure this time? The look on your face tells me that you might have found something serious out," Hiruzen commented as he stopped what he was doing, relieved to have a break from all the paperwork.

"Before we start, why don't you just use a Kage bunshin to take care of the paper work? You might be able to get yourself into better shape," Kaitou commented, wondering about the reaction. What he got would have been amusing if he was in a better mood. Hiruzen was about to bang his head on the desk when Kaitou stopped him with his hand. "How about you answer my next question, we can't have you losing more brain cells at your age."

"Alright then, now why are you here?" Hiruzen asked, tucking the kage bunshin idea away in his head for later.

"I had recently though about Naruto's birthday and realized that there was an irregularity," Kaitou said as he rolled up his sleeve, bit his thumb and wiped some blood on the seal he put on there as he applied some chakra. In a puff of smoke the letter he read earlier appeared and he read it aloud.

_March 27_

"_Otouto,_

_I__'m writing this because I'm so excited. I'm going to be a father. Kushina just recently told me the news. She's three months in. I suppose the new year brings quite a few surprises. We haven't decided on a name at the moment, but we know that the child is male. I just hope that he'll live to be happy later on. So far the only ones that know are you, Tsunade, Jiraiya and Hiruzen. I just hope you can see him after your travels. Anyway, good luck._

_- Minato."_

Kaitou finished reading the letter and looked at the Hokage as he said, "Why don't you explain to me the situation?"

"That would require me knowing what you're talking about," Hiruzen replied to him.

"The date, you dumbass, Minato wrote this letter on March 27, and it specified that Kushina was already three months into the pregnancy. You had two sons with your wife, so you know the average for the duration of a pregnancy of a healthy woman is nine to nine and a half months," Kaitou told the Hokage in irritation. "Why is it that Naruto's conception was ten and a half months before his birth? There are very few cases where healthy women have this kind of pregnancy duration, and unhealthy women are more likely to have premature births rather than late ones. So tell me, what happened to Kushina to cause this?"

"I take it you won't leave until you get your answer?" Hiruzen asked him rhetorically.

"I have a good clue as to Kushina's circumstances, because I'm aware of specific conditions that some women could have that would cause this, care to remove my doubt," Kaitou told the aged Sarutobi.

Hiruzen sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose and thought to himself, 'I'm gonna need my pipe and some strong tobacco after this is over.' He looked at Kaitou with a stern gaze as he said, "Before I answer, you must know that this is an even more well kept secret that Naruto's heritage."

"Which I _still_ wonder why people can't connect the dots given his age, hair style and color and eye color, as well as his blood type," Kaitou commented to the Sarutobi.

Hiruzen nodded in agreement as he said to Kaitou, "Kushina was the previous jinchuuriki for Kyuubi no Yoko."

"Well, not exactly the answer I expected but I figured it was something like that. Anyway, who all knew?" Kaitou asked.

"Minato, myself, Kushina, obviously, and those only two others that Minato trusted enough, also Koharu and Homura," Hiruzen told him.

"That certainly explains how she came to be at the academy, I always found it odd that someone from another country who had a clan of their own would transfer to Konoha," Kaitou commented. "This however, leaves a few more unanswered questions, the main one being, how did Konoha come into possesion of the Kyuubi in the first place. There is no way that the Kyuubi could have been held their for as long as it had last been seen being controlled by Senju Hashirama unless..."

"Kushina was the second jinchuuriki for Kyuubi no Yoko, the first, who was also a member of the Uzumaki clan, was Tsunade's grandmother, her name was Uzumaki Mito," Hiruzen answered. It wasn't until he heard cracks and saw that Kaitou was gripping his desk that he had just realized that he had said something he shouldn't have.

"So you're telling me that Naruto has family who is still alive and has not only been aware of his existance since his birth, but of his heritage as well?" Kaitou had a smile on his face that could scare even Orochimaru.

"Well, Tsunade hasn't exactly had the easiest history given what happened to her brother and husband," Hiruzen replied, trying to calm the jounin down.

"She still had family, though, all blood related," Kaitou said to him. "You might want to write out a request for her immediate return, because the only thing keeping me from going out there and dragging her back myself is the fact that I am the proctor for the exam and that I'm in charge of managing the training for Sasuke and Sakura. Speaking of which, has Jiraiya spoken with you about private information?" he asked, slightly calmer at the moment, but still annoyed.

Hiruzen sighed in relief, glad for the change of subject, "Iie, is there anything I need to know?"

"Due to Sasuke's run in with Orochimaru and another event that happened shortly after, said Uchiha has become a jinchuuriki," Kaitou explained to the Sarutobi.

"How many people know of this information?" the Hokage asked with dead seriousness.

"Sasuke, obviously, Jiraiya, Naruto and Sakura," Kaitou answered, figuring that saying himself would be unnecessary.

"How powerful is the tenant?" Hiruzen asked, more concerned about whether or not Sasuke would be able to take the power.

"I can't be too sure, but he admitted himself to being Kyuubi's rival, so he must have at least as much power as the shichibi, if not Hachibi, and he isn't a bijuu," Kaitou told the Hokage with all honesty.

"Is there any name he goes by?" Hiruzen continued.

"He said that he was called Soukon by Kyuubi," Kaitou specified to him. Kaitou then explained how Soukon came to be within Sasuke and the whole situation about the sealing and whatnot.

"So there is no chance that Soukon will escape?" Hiruzen asked his final question.

"He wouldn't be able to survive without a vessel or physical body even if he could escape or even wanted to, he won't try anything. He'll probably help Sasuke out if he's in a tight situation. Anyway, that's all that I have to say. Write the request, and bring me something with Tsunade's scent along with it, I'll take care of the delivery," Kaitou finished as he released the seal he placed on the door and opened it only to fall over.

Hiruzen just sweatdropped, 'I think having Tsunade here might just make things easier. Especially considering the weight this guy wears. Now where is my pipe?'

With Jiraiya and Naruto...

Naruto was still working on his katon chakra, and his kage bunshin were seriously helping him out. Whenever one would make some serious progress it would dispel, therefore causing all the others to gain the experience and grow. He was doing this for a few hours and was progressing at a high rate.

It was then that a scent caught his attention and he turned his head in one direction.

Jiraiya, wondering what caught Naruto's attention turned his head in the same direction.

It was then that Hinata and Neji appeared, running in their direction.

"Hinata-chan, Tsukigan, why are you here?" Naruto asked them.

"Don't call me that," Neji told Naruto.

"Well I have another nickname I could give you, but I'm pretty sure you would like that one even less, besides I already have someone I want to give that one to," Naruto replied as he turned to Hinata. "I think Shinjugan would suit you perfectly."

Hinata blushed a bit as Naruto spoke to her.

"Anyway, for what reason do I owe this pleasure?" Naruto asked

Hinata answered quietly, "Neji-niisan wanted to meet with your katon chakra sensei."

"Ero-sennin, why would you want that?" Naruto asked Neji.

"Inuzuka mentioned him during the preliminaries and I wanted to see if he was anything special," Neji answered, curious about what the man was like.

Naruto smirked as he pulled a random kage bunshin out, whispered into his ear.

The bunshin nodded and dispelled, all the others got the information and went over to where Jiraiya was. After a few second and a puff of smoke there was a commotion as Jiraiya was seen being carried along the bunshins like a mosh pit.

When Jiraiya reached them and was placed down, everyone saw that he was unconscious with a bloody nose.

Neji just couldn't help but asked, "What happened?"

Naruto just looked at Neji as he asked, "Do you really wanna know?"

"Hai," was all Neji said to him.

"I was hoping you would say that," Naruto replied with a smirk. He then turned and pulled out ten bunshins and said to them, "Alright, give him a toned down Ero-sennin special."

The bunshins just smirked as they surrounded Neji while Naruto just walked over to Hinata and said to her, "Just sit back and enjoy the show."

"Ano, what exactly are you going to do to him?" Hinata asked as they watched as Neji got into a jyuuken stance.

"Although I don't like some of Ero-sennin's morals, they are certainly easy to use against him if I want something from him. Neji is just going to get a taste of the clever ingenuity that someone with an open mind can come up with," Naruto replied as he smirked while watching the Hyuuga genius. Naruto then yelled, "Go for it."

All the bunshins involved nodded and formed their hands in the ram seal. They then all shouted, "Henge." They all transformed into naked, female forms of Naruto with their hair in two pigtails with smoke covering up their well-developed assets.

Neji's eyebrow twitched as he turned to Naruto and said, "You expect this to work."

All the bunshins just ran over to Neji and started pressing themselves against him.

Neji was red in the face as he tried to control himself.

"Ohhh, Neji-kun, what's wrong? You seem a tad red in the face," a familiar voice said to the male Hyuuga and he froze up.

Neji turned to see a naked form of Tenten approaching him, also with smoke protecting her modesty, but only barely. She approached Neji while doing everything possible to ephasize her exposure.

Neji couldn't think at this point in time. Normally this wouldn't have happened, but seeing his team mate in this state of dress was overloading his head at this point in time. He tried to move, but found that the ten previous bunshins were holding him in place. It wasn't until Tenten started drawing circles on his chest with her right index finger that he finally lost control and let out a spraying nosebleed of his own, falling back, unconscious.

The clones and Tenten all chuckled as they dispelled themselves from the henge, including the Tenten one, which was also a transformed bunshin.

Naruto himself was rolling on the ground along with quite a few of his bunshins at the show. "Dammit, I had no idea it would work that well," was all he said right before he took a deep breath.

Hinata looked at him then at Neji, "Naruto-kun, will he be okay?"

"He'll be fine, I doubt he usually gets a nosebleed, especially one _that_ bad, though I don't think he'll be able to look his team mate in the eye for a while," Naruto said with another chuckle.

"How did you even know that would work?" Hinata asked him.

"Lee came to assist Sakura-chan when she seemed to be in trouble, but she had already set up some traps, or rather she set up a great deal of insane traps that would have threatened her had she not had her abilities and training in said abilities, Neji and Tenten came in later, I won't explain why. I complimented her appearance, and apparently she liked it because she blushed. I noticed that Neji glaring at me when Tenten reacted, I stored that bit of information in the back of my mind. When I saw that the bunshins weren't having as much of an effect with their original henge as I wanted, I recalled how he reacted with the previously mentioned situation, and well, you see the results," Naruto finished with a chuckle.

Hinata listened to Naruto's explanation and couldn't help but giggle herself. Neji has never shown many sides of himself, so seeing him show frustration, and apparently a perverse side of himself, was a nice change of pace from the normally cold or arrogant Hyuuga.

"You know, I don't see or hear you laugh very often, maybe I should try harder to make you smile, it certainly looks like it would be worth it," Naruto replied with a smirk.

Hinata blushed at his compliment.

Naruto then said to her, "How about we find a way to waste some time? Because it doesn't look like these two will be getting up anytime soon. Besides, training with you might be able to get me more of a feel of fighting a juuken user, and when I say that I'm talking about without the weights on, usually, we only spar with weights on, let's see how well both of us can do without them."

Hinata nodded and took her leg weights off while Naruto took off his.

Naruto looked at his bunshins and said, "We got a spar about to start here, I need as many judges as possible, surround and pay attention, and watch out, I don't want any dispelling."

"Yosha," several said a surrounded the two.

Naruto then pulled a random bunshin out of the crowd and whispered into his ear. He then slammed it into the ground, dispelling it and transferring all the information to the rest of them. He then pulled another bunshin out. This one was a little reluctant before Naruto said to him, "We need a judge."

The bunshin, understanding this, nodded and stood in between the two.

The next morning...

It was the crack of dawn and the village was just getting up. Two figures, however, were already wide awake for the day ahead.

Hiruzen and Kaitou were standing in front of the Hokage tower as the former handed the latter the scroll with the request and a chuunin flak jacket.

"Does this have her scent?" Kaitou asked, being sure not to assume anything.

"Ah, I always keep something with a strong scent of any of my shinobi incase they need to be tracked down and Jiraiya isn't available," Hiruzen told the blonde. He didn't gain the position by being powerful alone, he was also quite intelligent and knew that having such thing might be helpful in the future.

Kaitou bit his right thumb, drawing blood, swiped said blood on the palm of his other hand and went through a set of hand seals. He put his left hand on the ground and said, "Kuchiyose no jutsu."

In a puff of smoke a large black wolf appeared infront of the Namikaze. The wolf was wearing a red collar and a pack strapped to his back.

"Yo, Kaitou-sama, do you have anything that you need taken care of?" the wolf asked.

"How many times must I say it, Jin? You should only call me Kaitou or Kaitou-san, I don't need any honorifics," Kaitou said with frustration in his voice.

"But it wouldn't feel right given that your brother is..." but the wolf was cut off as Kaitou grabbed his mouth and held it closed.

"Jin, that's confidential information, don't go saying it randomly, not everyone knows about my relations," Kaitou said as he let go of the wolf's mouth.

The wolf, now specified as Jin, nodded.

Kaitou then pulled out the scroll to Tsunade and put it into Jin's pack. Kaitou then held the flak jacket in front of Jin and said, "Get a good wiff of this."

Jin enhaled the scent deeply and said, "Tsunade-hime is the one you want me to find?"

Kaitou nodded.

"I'll find her in the week tops, and hopefully have her back in half that time," Jin said right before he took off.

Hiruzen watched as the wolf sped off in on direction. The aged Hokage turned to Kaitou and asked, "Are you sure about him?"

"Urufujin is the best tracker among the wolf summonings, if there is anyone that can get to Tsunade the fastest, it's him," Kaitou reassured the Sarutobi.

Hiruzen nodded. He then made a kage bunshin and walked away from the tower, the bunshin knowing exactly what to do.

"Hiruzen, do you want to assist the training with the genin? Naruto is out because Jiraiya is already taking care of that, hopefully," Kaitou said to the Hokage. The jounin knew that Jiraiya's training would certainly help but sometimes he had to wonder if Jiraiya would keep his focus on Naruto.

"That's probably not a bad idea, I want to see what you put them through anyway," the aged Sarutobi replied, straightenning his posture a bit. He had seen quite a bit in his lifetime, and he himself had trained some of the greatest shinobi Konoha has ever produced, but even he was curious about everyone's progress. At the rate the genin were going, he might be in for earlier retirement than he thought. He had never seen anything like it, and he wanted to know the answer to the question 'How unconventional were Kaitou's training methods?' And the only real way to find the answer is to see for himself.

"Besides, I might be able to get you to have the physique you had ten years ago before the finals," Kaitou said with a few thoughts of his own. He wasn't quite sure if he could follow through, but if it worked he could see the possibilities for the shinobi world if he managed to pull it off. The older generation being able to be whipped into shape for battle conditions, the younger generation could be done so in even better conditions, less would die on the field because of a weak link. The whole idea just got Kaitou laughing like a maniac.

Hiruzen just looked at the jounin with an odd look but knew better than to ask questions. The one thing that did rub off from Orochimaru to Kaitou was his deep thinking and the possible results. Although Kaitou's laughter was his own, it certainly made people question his sanity sometimes.

"Through this, we might even be able make a second village of longevity," Kaitou thought aloud, causing everyone to look at him like he was crazy.

Hiruzen just sighed, although he could understand what Kaitou was talking about due to the start of the conversation, only people who had heard the conversation from the very beginning would even have a small hint as to how he came to his conclusion. "This might be a long day," the Hokage admitted to himself as he followed the jounin.

Kaitou may be good company, but sometimes he gets a tad carried away with his thoughts.

* * *

End of chapter...

The last statement was a serious understatement.

Sorry, it took me a while, and it isn't nearly as long as it could be. I'm on my own completely with a few things, if I could get someone to help, I might be able to make better descriptions with this, I'm still terrible with full on descriptions, and I'm an editor myself. Mind you what I do is correct spelling here and there, reword some things and whatnot, I don't add anything. Anyway, continuing on, now Hiruzen is using the Kage bunshin to do his paper work while he himself gets into a training routine, whether or not this will help in the near future has yet to be seen. Downside, he has to handle Kaitou and his insane training regiment and perhaps even more insane thought process.

Anyway, Read and Review. Tell me what you think. And who here thinks they can help with increasing the description.

Anyone who has seen the most recent chapters of Naruto, I have to say, I thought there were some similarities in appearances. Now Naruto had two, still having one of them, both of whom were of the same blood. Anyone who can figure that out gets a cookie.

Finally, anyone who wants History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi(Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple) to continue, I have a link to a petition on my profile. I can't post links in the chapter.


	17. Petition

Greetings to the fine folk that moderate our site.

I, along with many, have been writing and posting on your fine site for years now, some of the better examples of up and coming writers out there are are now suddenly finding some of the stories we've come to love at risk of being removed without the chance to even rectify our errors.

For some, that means the permanent loss of a story. While I don't have anything that (I believe) violates your terms of use, there are those out there that are never able to recover a story in it's original form, this is something I find to be almost worthy of a legal action, as while we cannot claim ownership of a character, the stories are OURS and simply destroying them is something that is inexcusable.

It's quite easy to simply add an MA rating, additional filters or even a simple requirement for a free membership to read the stories presented here, and would cut down on hateful anonymous reviews and posts at the same time, so I have to question as to why such a thing, in all this time, simply wasn't added.

If you're worried about falsification of a registration then have an appropriate disclaimer and then there can be no dispute, you took your steps and the PARENTS didn't monitor their children, if that is even your concern. If it is more of a personal view or desire then please at least let people know and give them a chance to remove a story that you and yours find offensive, most people on the site are actually rather cordial when it comes to such requests.

While I cannot say for sure if this letter will even reach those that may be willing to listen, of if it's more akin to a wide spectrum purge in preparation for something bigger, please understand that you are going to be looseing a LARGE number of your writers, and thus your income from a lack of readers if there is not some level of action taken to help with this situation.

For those that may agree with this, please fell free to sign on and send this to the support server, maybe we can get some movement on this.

Psudocode_Samurai

Rocketman1728

dracohalo117

VFSNAKE

Agato the Venom Host

Jay Frost

SamCrow

Blood Brandy

Dusk666

Hisea Ori

The Dark Graven

BlackRevenant

Lord Orion Salazar Black

Sakusha Saelbu

Horocrux

socras01

Kumo no Makoto

Biskoff

Korraganitar the NightShadow

NightInk

Lazruth

ragnrock kyuubi

SpiritWriterXXX

Ace6151

FleeingReality

Harufu

Exiled crow

Slifer1988

Dee Laynter

Angeldoctor

Final Black Getsuga

ZamielRaizunto

Fenris187

blood enraged

arashiXnoXkami

tstoldt

Mystic 6 tailed Naruto

ElementalMaster16

Dark Vizard447

Darth Void Sage of the Force

Shiso no Kitsune

The Sinful

Kage640

Ihateheroes

swords of twilight

Kyuubi16

darthkamon

narutodragon

bunji the wolf

Cjonwalrus

Killjoy3000

blueexorist

White Whiskey

Ying the Nine Tail Fox

Gin of the wicked smile

tstoldt

The wolf god Fenri

JazzyJ09

sleepers4u

The Unknown 007

Gallantmon228

MKTerra

Gunbladez19

Forgottenkami

RHatch89

SoulKingonCrack

Dreadman75

Knives91

The Lemon Sage

Dark Spidey

VioletTragedies

Eon The Cat of Shadows

kazikamikaze24

animegamemaster6

LLOYDROCKS

demented-squirrel

swords of dawn

The Immoral Flame

blueexorist

Challenger

Shywhitefox

drp83

Bethrezen

Dragon6

bellxross

unweymexicano

The First Kitsukage

kingdom219

brown phantom

littleking9512

kurokamiDG

Auumaan

FrancineBlossom

BDG420

Her Dark Poet

bloodrosepsycho

Shen an Calhar

NarutoMasterSage4040

Masamune X23

Kuromoki

Sliver Lynx

devilzxknight86

Unis Crimson

Zero X Limit

SinX. Retribution

reven228

JAKdaRIPPER

Third Fang

IRAssault

Grumpywinter

absolutezero001

Single Silver Eye

animekingmike

Daniel Lynx

zerohour20xx

arturus

Iseal

Chash123

Fichunter

MegaKiraraLover

Tatsu_Shawna

Anime Insaniac

ALSO, there is a petition officially started to send to FanFiction about this issue. Please support it by going to this site. Every name helps!

www(dot)ipetitions(dot)com/petition/lemons-for-fanfiction


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